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rniNTRD BV
LONDON
SrOTTISWOODE AND CO., NF.W-STHKKT
A_ND PARLIAMENT 8TB.EET
:

SQI'.MCB

zy
THE

TEMPORAL MISSION
OF

THE HOLY GHOST:

OB

REASON AND REVELATION.

BY

HENRY EDWARD,
CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER.

Tis ovv apa

KapSiais

tiixuiu

7]

X aP ls

>

rov ayiov rifeUjUaros xvais 7} iv reus

tov HavAov <pwvi]v
avrovpybv
a\T]6u>s ayia^pv koX evouv y)fxas kavrw 5ia ttjs

% k&vtuis

yivo/xifr],

Kara

&pa to Tlveufjia eV rjfxiv,

irpbs avrb avvcuptias, Oeias re

i]

rr)v

<pucreu>s
S.

airoreXouv koivuvovs.

Cyril. Alex. Thesaur. de Trin. Assert, xxxiv.

:
In sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam^ hoc est intelligendum secundum
nostra refertur ad Spiritum Sanctum, qui sanctificat Ecclesiam, ut sit
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum sanctificantem Ecclesiam.

Si dicatur

quod

fides

sensus

S.

Thoji. Sum. Theol. 2

(1

2 ix

Quws.

1.

Art. 9

THIRD EDITION.

LONDON

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND

1877.

CO.

ad

5.

I^^o

TO THE CONGREGATION
OF THE

OBLATES OF
IN

CHARLES.

S.
THE

DIOCESE OF WESTMINSTER.

Keverend and dear Fathers,

To whom can

more

fittingly dedi-

cate the following pages than to you, with

whom

have spent eight of the happiest years of my

If the book has no worth in itself, at
life ?
I

least it will express

my affection.

It

was written

year under the quiet roof of S. Mary of the

Angels, at a time when I had no thought of
last

being parted from you

if,

indeed, I

that a parting which, though

it

may

call

suspends our

daily and hourly meeting in community, unites

us doubly in the bonds of mutual confidence

DEDICATION.

VI

and

service.

Nevertheless, though written in

other days, I see no reason

why

it

should not

be published now.
Such as it may be, you will there find the
result of the days which are now, I fear, not
to return.

'

S.

Augustine

quasrit charitas veritatis.

says,

Negotiumjustum

Quam

necessitas charitatis.

cipit

Otium sanctum
sus-

sarcinam

si

nullus imponit, percipiendas atque intuendae vacandum est veritati.' * I cannot say that our

together had much leisure in it, but it had

times of quiet and many helps, and facilities of
life

theological reading and calm thought, which I

can hardly hope for again. The Sarcina negotii has been laid upon me, and I must bear
'

'

my

burden

You

as I

may.

hope, see in these pages nothing

the
to
spirit of our glorious Father and
contrary
Patron, S. Charles, who has always seemed to

me

will, I

to represent in

an especial way, not so much

any particular doctrine of the

Faith, as the Di-

vine authority of the Church, expressed

Councils,

its

* S.
Aug.

Pontiffs,

De

and

its

Civit. Dei, lib. xix.

c.

by

its

continuous living
19. torn. vii. p. 563.

DEDICATION.

and

infallible voice.

And

this

Vll

appears to

me

the

truth which the great religious confusions of the

last three

hundred years have completely effaced

from the intelligence of the greater part of our

countrymen. S. Charles would seem, therefore,
to have a special mission to England and to the
nineteenth century.
I hope, too, that in these pages will be found

nothing inconsistent with the injunctions of our

Eule, which binds us ad studium culturamque
'

disciplinarum Theologicarum qua3 pro consilio

Sancti Caroli ad normam Tridentim Concilii ex-

acts maxime

sint

eoque pertineant ut Eomanae

Sedis auctoritas splendescat.'

* If

we

'

are to serve

our generation by the will of God,'

by the

it

must be

boldest and clearest enunciation of the

great principles of Divine certainty in matters of

Faith, and by pointing out the relations of Faith
to

human knowledge, scientific and

On this will depend the purity

education

of Catholic

and the reconciliation of Faith with

'

science and
insoluble

moral.

dogma with free-thought,' problems

to all who reject the infallibility of the

* Instit. OLlatorum S.
Caroli,

&c,

p. 11.

DEDICATION.

Vlll

Church, because by that rejection they destroy

one of the terms of the question. On this also
will

depend many practical consequences of

moment

at this time

vital

such as the relations of

the Church and of the Faith

to the political

and

changes of this age the limits of true

and of false liberty of the intellect and the will,
social

in individuals

and

in societies of

men,

for

which

the Sovereign Pontiff has lately given to us,

in the Encyclical of last year,

an outline and

guidance worthy of the Supreme Teacher of the

faithful.

But

it is

not

my

object to anticipate

the matter of this book, nor to do more than

to point to subjects of which, I trust, if

God

so

may have

time to speak hereafter.

I remember in one of the last nights when I

will, I

was watching by the dying-bed of our dear and

lamented Cardinal, that these thoughts, on which
I had heard him so often speak with the abun-

dance and vigour of

a

his great

mind, came with

special vividness before me, and

thanked

God from my
work

heart for having laid upon us this

through the wisdom of our great Pastor

and Friend who was so soon

us.

To him we owe

to

be taken from

the direction which every

DEDICATION.

IX

year more luminously shows to be the only true

remedy, both intellectually and spiritually, for
the evils of our time and

country.

little

thought at that hour that I should date these

you from under the same roof, where

everything speaks to me, all the day long, of his
memory and of our loss.
words

to

Persevere, then, Eeverend and dear Fathers,

in the

path into which he led

The English

us.

people are fair and truthful. They are listening

for a voice to guide them in the midst of their
The errors of the last
contradictory teachers.

hundred years are passing fast away.

Preach the Holy Catholic and Eoman Faith in
three

and

Speak, as none
other can, with the authority of God and His infallible Church. Preach as the Apostles preached,
all its truth,

in all its fulness.

and, as the Eule enjoins, with a

'

sancta et

virilis

with a holy and manly simplicity.

Contend with men, as a loved and honoured
simplicitas,'

friend has said of the Apostles,

not, but

If

what

it

come

fill

They argued
and conscience did the rest.'

preached
here offer you
;

'

may help you, use it. If

the same studies and
follow
out
short,

up what

have

left

imperfect.

DEDICATION.

had been

If I

able, as I thought, to

to

go

Eome

before publishing these pages, I should

have submitted them to examination before I

made them public. As it is, I can only commend them to the censure of those who can

me

correct
all to

if

I shall have

the unerring

erred,

and above

judgment of the Holy See

Bernard's words as

my own

'

Quaa
taking
auteni dixi, absque prsejudicio sane dicta sint
Eomana3 prcesertim Ecclesiae
sanius sapientis.
S.

auctoritati

atque examini totum hoc, sicut et

castera quge ejusmodi sunt, uni versa refero

si

quid

My
you

aliter sapio,

ipsius

paratus judicio emendare.'*

prayers, day

by day, are

offered

at the altar that every grace

you and the Congregation of

may

up

for

prosper

S. Charles.

Believe me, Eeverend and dear Fathers,

Always your very

affectionate Servant

in Jesus Christ,

*
8

York Plack

H. E. M.

July 15, 1865.

Epist. ad Canon. Lugdun., torn

i.

p. 76.

CONTENTS,
INTRODUCTION,
(pp. 1-35.)

A Divine Teacher always present.

Object and method of the work.

Reason either a disciple or a critic.
the former sense

Rationalism true and

false.

In

the use of the reason in testing the

evidence of a revelation alleged to be divine, or in perceiving the har-

mony of

it

signifies

the Divine Revelation with the

and

sense defined to be an abnormal

human

reason.

In the latter

illegitimate use of the reason.

Divided into perfect and imperfect, or fully-developed and incipient.

1. The former assumes reason to be the fountain of all knowledge
relating to God and to the soul, and therefore the source, measure,
and limit of what is credible in the theology of natural religion, to

the exclusion of all supernatural revelation.

2. The latter assumes
reason to be the supreme test or judge of the intrinsic credibility of
Both kinds of
revelation admitted in the main to be supernatural.

Rationalism are one in principle

both lower the reason.

Incipient

Rationalism in the Anglican Church. The Church teaches that

Faith is an infused grace which elevates and perfects the reason.
Object of the present work to show 1. That to believe in Revelation
:

is

the highest act of the

human

reason.

2.

That

to believe in

Reve-

whole and perfect, is the perfection of the reason. 3. That

to submit to the Voice of the Holy Spirit in the Church is the absolation,

lute condition to aktain a perfect

knowledge of Revelation.

4.

That

the Divine Witness of the Holy Spirit in the Church anticipates the
The
criticism of the human reason, and refuses to be subject to it.
four bases or motives of Faith are

1.

That

reason not to believe in the existence of God.

lation of our moral sense not to believe that

it is

2.

a violation of

That

it is

a vio-

God has made Himself

CONTEXTS.

Xll

to man. 3. That tho Revelation He has given is Christianity,

That Christianity is Catholicism. Each of these four truths
certain by its own proper evidence, and each also confirmatory of

known
4.

the other.

Christianity the

Jesus Christ, of

summing up and
all the

final expression in the Person of

truths of the natural and supernatural

order in Judaism and Paganism.

Other religions fragmentary and
local.
Belief in tho Holy Trinity leads to belief in Catholicism.

Three Divine Persons: three Divine offices the Father and

the Holy Ghost and the Church.
the Son and Redemption
Definition of the Temporal Mission of thk Holy (;hust: The
Creation

sendiiig, advent,

Son,

Holy

and

office

of

the

Holy Ghost through

the Incarnate

The Eternal Procession of the

after the day of Pentecost.
Ghost completes the mystery of the Holy Trinity ad intra; the

and

Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost completes the revelation of the

Holy Trinity

ad, extra.

Testimony of S. Augustine. The Author's retractation of three

errors: 1. Of false rule of Faith. 2. Of false theory of unity. 3. Of
false view of the position of the Roman Pontiff.
Unity of the Church
indivisible and singular. Passing away of the so-called reformation.

CHAPTER

I.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLT GHOST TO THE CHURCH.

(pp. 36-92.)

In the Baptismal Creed the article on the Church is united to the

article on the Holy Ghost, to signify that the union between the Holy

Ghost and the Church is divinely constituted, indissoluble and eternal.

union the Church is immutable in its knowledge, discernment,
and enunciation of the truth. 1. Proved from Holy Scripture,

By this

2. Prove. 1 by pasS. John xiv. xvi., Eph. iv., Rom. xii., 1 Cor. xii.
sages from the Fathers, S. Iren^us, Tehtullian, S. Augustine,

Gregory of Nazianzum,
Gregory the Great. Two

S.

S.

Cyril

of

Alexandria, and

conclusions follow:

1.

S.

The present

2. It differs from His presence

dispensation that of tho Holy Spirit.
and office before the advent of Jesus Christ in many gifts, graces

and manifestations, and principally

in five

ways

CONTENTS.

Xlll

I. The Holy Ghost came before into the world by His universal
operations in all mankind, but now He comes through the Incarnate

Son by a special and personal presence. Proved from H. Scripture,

Augustine, and S. Thomas. Explained by Suarez and Petavius.

S.

II. Before the day of Pentecost the Mystical Body of Christ was
not complete : the Holy Ghost came to perfect its creation and organiThe Constitution of the Body was deferred until the Head
zation.

was

Christ, as

1.

glorified.

Head

of the Church,

is

the fountain of

His mystical Body. Col. i. 19, Eph. i. 22. S. Gregory

the G-reat and S. Augustine. 2. The sanctification of the Church

all sanctity to

gift of the Holy Ghost.

Eph. ii. 22, Rom. v. 5,
Athanasius and S. Cyril of Alexandria. 3. The
Holy Ghost dwells personally and substantially in the mystical Body,
which is the incorporation of those who are sanctified.
4. The
is effected
1

Cor.

iii.

by the

16.

S.

of the mystical Body who are sanctified, partake not only

of the created graces, but of a substantial union with the Holy
Ghost.
5. The union of the Holy Ghost with the mystical Body,

members

though analogous

to the hypostatic union, is not hypostatic

foras-

human

personality of the members of Christ still

Beferences to Petavius and
subsists in this substantial union.

much

as the

Thomassinus.
III.

The Holy Ghost came at Pentecost

to constitute

a union between

Himself and the Mystical Body that would be absolute and indissoluble.
Before the Incarnation He wrought in the souls of men, one by one.
His presence, therefore, was conditional, depending on the human will,
as it is now in individuals as such but in the Church His presence
depends on the Divine will alone, and is therefore perpetual. 1. The
union of the Holy Ghost with the Head of the Church, both as God
and as Man, is indissoluble. 2. There will always be a mystical Body
;

for that Divine

Head, although individuals may

fall

from

it.

Three

divine and eternal unions, (1.) Of the Head with the members,
with each other, (3.) Of the Holy Ghost with
(2.) Of the members
Its
the Body, constitute the complete organization of the Church.
endowments are derived from the Divine Person of its Head, and the

Divine Person who

perfections of the

is its

Life.

Holy Ghost.

indivisibly one, because

It receives a

It

is

communication of the

imperishable, because

He is numerically one

He is God
He is the

holy, because

CONTEXTS.

XIV

He

Its

mem-

bers not only called or elected, but aggregated or called into one.

The

fountain of holiness

infallible,

because

is

the Truth.

Church, therefore, is a mystical person, not on probation, but the

instrument of probation to others.
IV. Before the Incarnation the Holy Ghost wrought invisibly : now
by His Temporal Mission He has manifested His presence and His
1. The Church is
operations by the Visible Church of Jesus Christ.
the evidence of the presence of the Holy Ghost among men, the visible
incorporation of His presence: (1.) By its supernatural and world-

wide unity. S. Augustine quoted. (2.) By its i?npcrishableness in

the midst of the dissolving works of man.
(3.) By its immutability
2. The Church is the instrument of
in doctrine of faith and morals.
the power of the Holy Ghost (1.) By the perpetuity and diffusion of
:

the light of the Incarnation.

(2.) By the perpetuity of sanctifying
grace by means of the Seven Sacraments. 3. It manifests for various

ends and at various times His miraculous power.

of His voice.

4.

It

is

the organ

General Summary. From the indissoluble union of the Holy

Ghost flow: 1. The three properties of Unity, Visibleness and
Perpetuity 2. The three endowments, namely Indefectibility
in life and duration, Infaxlibilty in teaching, and Authority in
governing 3. The four notes, namely, Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity,
and Apostolicity.
;

V. Before the Incarnation the Holy Ghost taught and sanctified

individuals, but with an intermitted exercise of His visitations; now
He teaches and sanctifies the Body of the Church permanently.

Three possibly conceivable Rules of Faith 1. A living Judge and

Teacher, or the Divine Mind declaring itself through an organ of its
own creation. 2. The Scriptures interpreted by the reason of indi;

viduals.
3. Scripture and Antiquity.
The two last resolvable into
one, namely, the human mind judging for itself upon the evidence
and contents of revelation. Its refutation. False theory of a Church

once undivided and infallible and aftorwards divided and

S.

Cyprian and S. Bkde quoted.

The office of the Holy Ghost as Illuminator consists

in the

fallible.

following

In the original revelation to the Apostles. 2. In the

3. In assisting the Church to
preservation of what was revealed.
operations:

1.

XV

CONTESTS.

conceive, with greater fulness, explicitness and clearness, the original

5. In
4. In defining that truth in words.
truth in all its relations.
the perpetual enunciation and propositions of the same immutable

De Locis Thcologicis : (1.) Voice of the Living Church,

The Holy Scriptures, (3.) Tradition, (4.) The decrees of General
Councils, (o.) The definitions and decrees of Sovereign Pontiffs speakThe
ing ex cathedra, (6.) The unanimous voice of the Saints, (7.)
consent of Doctors, (8.) The voice of the Fathers, (9.) The authority

truth.
(2.)

of Philosophers, (10.)

Human

History, (11.) Natural Reason.

CHAPTER

II.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLT GHOST TO THE

HITMAN REASON.
(pp. 93-133.)

Two ways
2.

1. In those who do not believe.

of treating this relation
In the former case Reason must, by
:

In those who do believe.

necessity, ascertain, examine, judge, and estimate the evidence of the

fact of a revelation, its motives of credibility and its nature. In the
S. Thomas
latter case it submits as a disciple to a Divine Teacher.
1. Faith
to show the office of reason in regard to revelation

quoted

presupposes the operations of reason, on the motives of credibility for

which Ave believe. 2. Faith is rendered intrinsically credible by
reason.

3.

Faith

is

illustrated

by reason.

4.

Faith

is

defended by

reason against the sophisms of false philosophy.

The

relations of roason to revelation are principally five:

I. Eeason receives Revelation by intellectual apprehension. Analogy

of the eye and light.
Knowledge of God both in Nature and Revelation a gift or infusion to man, not a discovery by logic or research.

What was revealed by our Lord and the Holy

Ghost inherited and sustained by the Church.

Reference to Vita.

II. Reason propagates the truths of Revelation.

mission to the Apostles. Faith came by hearing.

The Divine com-

XVI

CONTENTS.

III.

Reason

defines the truths

The Creeds, General

it.

of Revelation divinely presented to

and the science of

Councils, Definitions,

Theology.

IV. Reason defends Revelation.

nullity of

1.

Negatively,

arguments brought against

it

2.

by showing the
by demon-

positively,

Sketch of the
strating its possibility, fitness, necessity, and reality.
The ancient Apologies of the early Fathers.
history of Theology.
S. John of Damascus, De Orthodoxa
Lanfranc and S. Anselm in the
S. Bernard and Abelard.
Peter
Lombard, Liber Sententiarum. Albertus Maonus, S. Bonaventura,
Summa Theologica. The Dominican and Jesuit ComS. Thomas.
The Council of Trent. History of Dogma.
mentators.

The Greek and Latin

Fathers.

Fide in the eighth century.

eleventh.
Cur Deus Homo.

V. Reason transmits Revelation by a

scientific

Theology though not a science proprie

tion.

correctly so described.

The

treatment and tradi-

dicta,

maybe

truly and

definition of Science in Scholastic Philo-

sophy taken from Aristotle. The sense in which Theology is a

Science.
Opinions of S. Thomas, Cajetan, Vasquez, and Gregory
of Vaxentia. Fourteen General Conclusions stated as propositions.

CHAPTER

III.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST TO THE

LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.
(pp. 134-182.)

Object of this chapter to trace an outline of the history of the

Doctrine of Inspiration.
I.

In every century there have been objectors, gainsayers and unfrom Cerinthus, Marcion, and Faustus the Manichsean, to

believers,

Luther, Spinoza, Paine, and modern rationalists.

II. Doctrine of Inspiration in the Church of England. References
Hooker, Whitby, and Bishop Burnet. Various modern opinions.
The Essays and Reviews.

to

III.

The Catholic Doctrine of Inspiration.

Five points of faith.

CONTEXTS.

Xvii

That the writings of the Prophets and Apostles are Holy Scripture.
That God is the Author of the Sacred Books. 3. That the Sacred
Books are so many in number and are such by name. 4. That these
books in their integrity are to be held as sacred and canonical, o.
That the Latin version called the Vulgate is authentic.
1

2.

First period

of simple faith.

The Fathers both of the East and

West extend the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost

ture,

both to

its

substance and to

its

form.

to the whole of
ScripProved from S. Irenjeus,

Macarius, S. Chrysostom, S. Basil, S. Gregory of Nazianzum,

and S. John of Damascus. Also from S. Augustine, S. Gregory
the Great, and S. Amurose.
S.

Second Period
tion.

of

Two schools ofanalysis

opinion.
:

as to the nature and limits of Inspira-

1
Every particle and word of the Canonical books was written by
the dictation of the Holy Spirit.
Tostatus. Estius. Faculties of
.

Louvain and Douai, Melchior Canus, Banez, and the Dominican

Theologians generally.
2. The whole matter of Holy Scripture was written
by the assistance
of the Holy Spirit, but not the whole form dictated by Him. Bellarmine, the Jesuit Theologians, and the majority of recent writers on
the subject.
Opinions of Luther and Erasmus. Discussion caused

by the propositions of Lessius and Hamel.

P.

Simon and Holden.

Definition of Inspiration, Revelation, Suggestion, and Assistance.

1. The
Inspiration includes
impulse to put in writing the matter
:

which God

The

wills.

2.

The suggestion of the matter

to

be written.

which excludes liability to error.

Theologia
Statement of supposed difficulties. Reply to obWirceburgensis.
In what sense the Vulgate is
jections gathered from S. Jerome.
3.

assistance

authentic.

Whensoever the text can be undoubtedly established, the supposition

of error as to the contents of that text cannot be admitted.
Wheresoever the text

may be

uncertain, in those parts error

may

be present

this would be an error of transcription or translation. 1. The

Holy Scripture does not contain a revelation of the physical sciences.
No system of chronology is laid down in the Sacred Books.
2.
3. Historical narratives may
appear incredible and yet be true.
S. Augustine quoted.

Will

CONTENTS.

OHAPTEE

IV.

THE RELATION OF THE BOLT GHOST TO THE

INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.
(pp. 183-221.)

Christianity neither derived from Scripture, nor dependent upon it.

What the Incarnate Son was to the Scriptures of the Old Testament,
that the Holy Ghost, servatd proportione, is to the Scriptures of the

New.

England has hitherto preserved the belief that Christianity

a Divine Revelation, and that the Holy Scripture is an inspired
In the
Fruits of the Reformation in other countries.
Book.
is

Catholic Church the relations of the Holy Ghost to the interpretation of Scripture are

The Revelation of the Spirit of God was given, preached, and

believed before the New Testament existed.
S. Irenjeus quoted.
I.

II.

This Revelation was also

divinely recorded

before

the Ni

1. Upon the minds of pastors

Testament Scriptures were written.
and people. 2. In the Seven Sacraments. 3. In the risible worship
of the Church.
4. In the early Creeds.
Table of the dates of the

Books of the

New

Testament.

The Science of God, incorporated in the Church, is the true

of Scripture. The unvarying witness of the
latholic Faith contrasted with the divers interpretations of Protestant
III.

key
<

si

to the interpretation

cts.

IV. The Church

is

both:

guardian both of the Faith and of the Scripfrom its Divine Head. It alone witnesses to

the

It received both

tures.

With a human and

1.

historical testimony.

2.

With a divine

and supernatural testimony.

Y.

The Church

Holy Scripture

How the

pretation.

quoted.

is not
only the interpretation, but the interpreter of
Refutal ion of the Protestant theory of private inter-

of Lerins quoted.
of France.
I.

Tliat.ii

Divine Scriptures become human.

Scripture abused

Answer

by

heretics.

S.

S.

Jerome

Augustine and Vincent

Anecdote of Henry III. of England and S. Louis

to two accusations brought against tho Church
:

supersedes to so great an extent the use of Scripture in the

CONTEXTS.
devotions of the people

and,

2.

XIX

That it enunciates

its

doctrines in an

arbitrary and dogmatic way, regardless of the facts of Christian antiand history. In the Church alone the Scriptures retain their

quity

Examples given. The Church has a

profound sense of their sacredness. Illustrations from the lives of
S. Paulinus, S. Edmund, and S. Charles.
whole and perfect meaning.

CHAPTER

V.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLT GHOST TO THE DIVINE

TRADITION OF THE FAITH,
(pp. 222-260.)

Christ ianity has been preserved pure. Analogy between the Church
in Rome in the fourth century and in England in the present. Signs
of the dissolution of the various forms of Protestantism. The real

question between

separated from

it

the Catholic

not

Church and

Christian bodies

all

one of detail but of principle.

Charge of

God alone can

corruption brought against Catholic doctrines.
reform His Church. The 'Unction from the Holy One' always
present to preserve the Faith. Proof. from 1 S. John
in full.
As a consequence of this truth it follows

ii.

drawn out

I.

All the doctrines of the Chui'ch to this day are incorrupt.

II.

III.

They are

They are

that of decay.
to

also incorruptible.

grow

e.g.

also immutable.

Change of growth

different

from

Sense in which the doctrines of the Church are said

the dogmas of the Holy Trinity, of the Incarnation,

In
of the Blessed Eucharist, and of the Immaculate Conception.
Protestantism the doctrines of Christianity have suffered the change
of decay.

IV. The doctrines of the Church are always primitive.

The Church

ever ancient and ever new.

V. They are also transcendent because divine.

In the supernatural

must come before understanding. S. Augustine quoted.

Credo quia impossibile. The Holy Spirit is the Author and Guardian

order, Faith

XX

CONTENTS.

He diffuses the light by which it

known, and presides over the selection of the terms in which it
i^
The
defined and enumerated.
Objection against Dogmatism,
Theology of the Nineteenth Century should be moral and spiritual.
of the Tradition of Christian Truth.
is

Answer

to objection.

Theology consists

Analogy of philosophical truths. Dogmatic

arrangement of the primary and

in the scientific

secondary orders of Christian truth.

and

verbal expression

A dogma

of a divine

is

the intellectual

truth.

Consequently
cannot essentially change. Answer to objection that Dogmatic
Theology is barren and lifeless. Theology divided into Dogmatic,
Moral, Ascetical, and Mystical. Their mutual relations. Use made
conception
it

of Catholic sources by Protestant -writers.

Devotions of the Church
founded on its doctrines e.g. The Blessed Sacrament, The Sacred
:

Heart, The Passion,

Summary and

etc.

Conclusion.

The

Spiritual Exercisis of S. Ignatius.

THE

TEMPOEAL MISSION
OP

THE HOLY GHOST.

INTRODUCTION.
Before the reader proceeds
I wish to detain
1.

him with

Some time ago my

to the following pages,

a few introductory words.

intention was to publish a

volume of Sermons on Reason and Revelation

sequel to those on Ecclesiastical Subjects.
preface to that

volume

as a

In the

expressed this purpose.

But when I began to write I found it impossible to

throw the matter into the form of sermons. I do
not imagine that the following pages have any pretensions to the character of a treatise, or any merit
beyond, as I hope, correctness and conformity to
But I have found it necessary
Catholic theology.

INTRODUCTION.

to

treat

the subject in a less popular form than

sermons would admit, and to introduce much matter

which would be out of place if addressed to any such
audience as our pastoral

office

has to do with.

I was

therefore compelled to write this

volume in the form

of a short treatise, and though I

am

of its

fully conscious

insufficiency, nevertheless I let it

these vital

who have

go forth,

may help some who have not studied

questions of our times, and provoke others

hoping that

it

studied

them

to write

some work worthier

of the subject.

Another departure from my first intention was

When I began to consider the
also forced upon me.
nature and relations

of Eeason

and Revelation,

found myself compelled to consider the Author and

Giver of both, and the relations in which He stands

them, and they to Him. This threw the whole

subject into another form, and disposed the parts of

to

it

in another order.

I found myself writing on the

relations of the Divine Intelligence to the

human

but as these intelligent and vital powers are personal,

I was led into that which seems "to me, in the last

comprehend the whole question of Divine

Faith, the temporal mission of the Holy Ghost, and

analysis, to

the relations of the Spirit of Truth to the Church,

to the

human

reason, to the Scriptures,

and

to the

A DIVINE TEACHER ALWAYS PRESENT.

In ascending this stream of light,

I found myself in the presence of its Fountain, and
I have been unable, whether it be a fault or not, to
of Faith.

dogma

contemplate the subject in any other way. It seems

me as impossible to conceive of the relations of

to

Eeason and Kevelation without including the Person

and action of the Spirit of Truth, as to conceive a
without a centre from which

circle

its

rays diverge.

I do not deny that by intellectual abstraction

do

so,

but

it

we may

would be to mutilate the diagram and

the truth together.

2.

Now my

object, in the following pages, is to

show that the reason of

man

has no choice but to

be either the disciple or the critic of the revelation

The normal state of the reason is that of
of (rod.
a disciple illuminated, elevated, guided, and unfolded
and perfection by the action of a Divine

to strength

Teacher.

The abnormal

is

that of a critic testing,

measuring, limiting the matter of Divine revelation

his supposed discernment or intuition. The former
the true and Divine Eationalism ; the latter, the

by
is

false

and human Eationalism.

Now as, in the following pages, the words rationalism

and rationalistic occur, and always in an

ill

sense, it

be well to say here at the outset in what sense I

use it, and why I always use it in a bad signification.
will

B 2

INTRODUCTION.

By

Rationalism, then, I do not

mean

the use of

the reason in testing the evidence of a revelation

alleged to be divine.

Again, by Rationalism I do not mean the perception of the harmony of the Divine revelation with

human

no part of reason to believe

that which is contrary to reason, and it is not RaAs reason is a divine gift
tionalism to reject it.
the

reason.

It is

equally with revelation

in grace

discord

harmony an
harmony

is

the one in nature, the other

between them

intrinsic necessity.

is

impossible, and

To

recognise this

a normal and vital operation of the reason

under the guidance of faith and the grace of faith

an eminent act of the reason, its highest and
;

elicits

noblest exercise in the fullest expansion of

By

its

powers.

Rationalism I always intend an abnormal and

illegitimate use of the reason, as I will briefly here

explain.

The

best

way

do

to

so will

be to give a

short account of the introduction and use of the term.

Professor

Hahn,

in his book,

qui dicitur, vera indole, et qua

'

I)e Rationalismi,

cum Naturalismo

As to Rationalism, this
word was used in the seventeenth and eighteenth
contineatur ratione,' says,

'

by those who considered reason as the

Amos Comenius seems
source and norm of faith.
centuries

first

to

have used this word in 1661, and

it

never

REASON EITHER A DISCIPLE OR A

had a good

sense.

CRITIC.

In the eighteenth century

it

was

times called by
applied to those who were in earlier
l
Naturalists.'
of
name
the
'

Naturalism,' as Staudlin says,

from Eationalism by rejecting

all

is

distinguished

and every revela-

tion of Grod, especially any extraordinary one, through

.
.
.
Supernaturalism consists in

certain men.

has revealed
general in the conviction that Grod

Himself supernaturally and immediately.

What

is

perhaps be discovered by natural

not at all, or very late, by those
either
but
methods,

revealed might

to

whom

it is revealed.'

Bretschn eider says that the word

'

Eationalism has

been confused with Naturalism since the appearance

of the Kantian philosophy, and that it was introduced
into theology

by Keinhard and Gabler.

An accurate

examination respecting these words gives the followThe word Naturalism arose first in the
results.
ing

sixteenth century, and was spread in the seventeenth.

It

was understood to mean the theory of those who

allowed no other knowledge of religion except the

natural,

which

man

could shape

out of his

own

all supernatural
strength, and consequently excluded
revelation.' He then goes on to say that theologians
1

H. T. Rose's State of Protestantism in Germany, Introd. xx.

lb. xviii.

INTRODUCTION.

distinguish three forms of Naturalism.

First, Pela-

gianism, which admits revelation, but denies superSecondly, a grosser kind,

natural interior grace.

which denies all particular revelation, such as modern

Deism. Lastly, the grossest of all, which considers
the world as God, or Pantheism. 1

Upon

this it is

obvious to remark, that the term Kationalism has

been used in Germany in various senses.

It has
been made to comprehend both those who reject all
revelation

and those who profess to receive

it.

The

latter class, while they profess to receive revelation,

nevertheless receive it only so far as their critical

reason accepts

They

it.

profess to

receive

Chris-

but they make reason the supreme arbiter in

tianity,

matters of

faith.

'

When

Christianity

to them, they inquire what there

is

in it

is

presented

which agrees

with their assumed principles (i.e. of intrinsic credibility), and whatsoever does so agree they receive as
true.'

Others again affect to allow 'a revealing

operation of God, but establish on internal proofs

rather than on miracles the Divine nature of Christianity.

They allow that

revelation

may contain much

out of the power of reason to explain, but they say

that it should assert nothing contrary to reason, but
1

II. T.

Rose's State of Protestant ism in

lb. xxiii.

Germany, Introd. xx.

xsi.

RATIONALISM ONE IN PRINCIPLE.

rather what

may be proved by it.'

divines reject the

'

fact,

such

Trinity,

the

But, in

doctrines of the

Atonement, the Mediation and Intercession of our

Lord, Original Sin, and Justification by Faith.'
I need not prolong these quotations.
fice

suf-

They

to show that Eationalism has various senses, or

rather various degrees ; but, ultimately,

it

has one and

principle, namely, that the Eeason

the same

is

the

supreme and spontaneous source of religious knowIt

ledge.

may

be therefore distinguished into the

or into the fullyperfect and imperfect Eationalism,

and
the
incipient Eationalism, and these
developed

may
1.

founded upon the assumption that the reason

sole

perhaps be accurately described as follows

The perfect or fully-developed Eationalism
is

is

the

fountain of all knowledge relating to Grod and to

the soul, and to the relations of

This does not

of the

human

race,

God and

of the soul.

reason of each individual, but

mean the

which

elicits

from

its

lectual consciousness a theology of reason,

mits

it

own

intel-

and trans-

as a tradition in the society of mankind.

The reason is therefore the source and the measure

or the limit of
rational

what

religion.

is

This, necessarily,

supernatural revelation.
1

credible in the theology of

Rose, ut supra, xxiv. xxv.

excludes

all

INTRODUCTION.

8
2.

The imperfect,

or incipient, Kationalism

upon the assumption that the reason

rests

the supreme

is

judge of the intrinsic credibility of revelation

admitted in the main to be supernatural. It is easy to
test or

see that nothing but the inconsequence of those

hold this system arrests

its

it

from resolving

ultimate form of perfect Eationalism.

reason

the critic of revelation.

is

who

itself into

In both the

In the latter,

it

rejects portions of revealed truth as intrinsically in-

credible
for the

in the former, it rejects revelation as a

same

reason.

The

whole

latter criticises the contents

of revelation, accepting the evidence of the fact, and

rejects portions

tents

the former criticises both the con-

and the evidence, and altogether

Now,

it

is

evident that in England

in the incipient stage of Rationalism.

Secularism, and

Deism

rejects both.

we

are as yet

Materialism,

are to be found in individuals,

but not yet organised as schools. Rationalism in the

perfect form is also to be found in isolated minds
;

but the incipient, or semi-Rationalism, has already

established itself in a school of able, cultivated, and
respectable men.

whom

I need not

name the

writers of

Dr. Williams, Mr. Wilson, and Dr. Colenso are

the most advanced examples.

In this school most of

the followers and disciples of the late Dr. Arnold are

to be classed.

It does not surprise

me

to see the

RATIOXALISM LOWERS THE REASOX.

rapid and consistent spread of these opinions; for ever

by the mercy of Grod I came to see the principle

of divine faith, by which the human reason becomes
since

the disciple of a Divine Teacher, I have seen, with

the clearness of a self-evident truth, that the whole
of the Anglican reformation and system

is

based upon

the inconsequent theory which I have designated as

incipient Eationalism.

It

admits revelation, but

constitutes the reason as the judge

it

critical inquiry

by

of the contents of that revelation, of the interpretation

of Scripture, and of the witness of antiquity.

The Church

an infused grace
but as
which elevates and perfects the reason
rationalists allege that faith detracts from the perteaches that faith

is

fection of reason,
1

object will be to show

That to believe in revelation

of the
2.

my

human

the highest act

reason.

That to believe in

fect, is

is

revelation, whole

and per-

the perfection of the reason.

That to submit to the Voice of the Holy Spirit

in the Church is the absolute condition to attain a
3.

perfect knowledge of revelation.

That the Divine witness of the Holy Spirit in

the Church anticipates the criticism of the human
4.

reason,

and refuses to be subject to

it.

Lest anyone should imagine that in these propo-

INTRODUCTION.

10
sit ions

I limit the activity

and

office

of the

human

reason in matters of faith, I will add also the follow-

ing propositions

would be a violation of reason in the highest

degree not to believe that there is a God. To be1

It

lieve that this visible

world

is

either eternal or self-

created, besides all other intrinsic absurdities in the

hypothesis, would simply affirm the world to be

God

we deny His existence. It

would be a gross and stupid conception of an eternal
and self-existent being for to believe it self-created

in the same breath that

is

a stupidity which exceeds even the stupidity of

atheism.

But

self-created,

maker.

it

if

the world were neither eternal nor

was made

Cavil as a

will, there is

To deny

this necessity.

violate reason

man

and, if made,

and to be

it

is

it

had a

no escape from

not to reason, but to

rationalists,

by going con-

trary to reason.
2.

Secondly,

sense,

which

between

my

it

would be a violation of the moral

is still

reason judging of the relations

Maker and myself, not

has given to

me

the means of knowing

consciousness of what I
to conceive of

am
and

to believe that

am

The

gives me the law by which

One higher and

better than I

an intelligent and moral being, and

my

Him.

He

if

am.

If I

my dignity
my

perfection consist in the perfection of

THE FOUR BASES OR MOTIVES OF FAITH.

reason and of

my

will,

11

then I cannot conceive of a

Being higher and better than myself, except as One who

has, in a higher degree, those things which are the

But

best and highest in myself.

my

intelligent

and

moral nature, and the right exercise and action of its

powers, is the highest and best that is in me. I know
it to

me.

exceed
It

all

the other excellences which are in

exceeds,

creatures to

too,

whom

all

the perfections of other

gifts of strength and instinct have

been given, without reason and the moral

I

am

than I

certain, therefore, that

am

in

that

which

know Him

therefore I

is

my

will.

Creator

is

higher

highest in me, and

to be a perfect intelligence

and a perfect will, and these include all the perfecI say then it would
tions of wisdom and goodness.
violate the moral sense to believe that such a

Being
and
of
loving
knowing
Him capable of happiness and of misery, of good
and of evil, and that He has never given to me the
has created

me

capable of

means of knowing Him, never spoken, never broken

the eternal silence by a sign of His love to me, on

which depend both

Now,

it

is

my

perfection and

my

certain, by the voice of

all

happiness.

mankind,

that He
consciencethat

that God speaks to us through His works

whispers to us through our natural

He

attracts us to

Him

by

instincts,

and

desires,

and

INTRODUCTION.

12

aspirations after a happiness higher than sense,

more enduring, more changeless, than

life.

God

of nature
all this

speaks to

and the

me

and

this mortal

articulately in the stirring life

own

silence of our

being.

What

is

but a spiritual action of the intelligence, and

the will of (rod upon the intelligence, and will of man?

and what
and

is

this but a Divine inspiration

specifically distinct as inspiration

Critically

and revelation

and theological sense are from

in their strict

this

inward operation of the Divine mind upon mankind,

yet generically and in the last analysis it is (rod speaking to man,

drawing

God

man

illuminating man to

to love

The

Him.

know Him, and

inspiration and

revelation granted to patriarchs, prophets, apostles,

seers,

and

saints, are

of a

supernatural

order, in

which the lights

mingle and are elevated by the supernatural and divine. These manifestations of Himself to men are bestowed upon us
of nature

out of the intrinsic perfections of His own Divine

attributes.

He

created

us as

objects whereon to

His love and His goodness

His image,
are the fountains of the light of nature.
exercise His benevolence.

in which
to

Him

if

we

He

has created us, by

its

own instincts turns

with the rational and moral confidence that

feel after

Him we

shall find

Him.

And His

love and His goodness are such, that our yearnings

EACH CERTAIN" BY
for a

ITS

Him

knowledge of

PROPER EVIDENCE.

13

are satisfied not only

by the

light of nature, but through His grace

by the super-

natural revelation of Himself.

3.

Thirdly, I

am

certain, with a certainty

which

higher than any other in the order of moral convictions, that if there be a revelation of God to man,

is

that revelation
belief

is,

is

The reason

Christianity.

of this

that I find in Christianity the highest and

purest truth, on the highest and purest matter of

which the human intelligence is capable that is to

say, the purest Theism or knowledge of God, the
;

purest anthropology or science of man, and the purest

morality, including the moral conduct of God towards

man, and the moral action of man towards God.

These three elements constitute the highest knowledge of which

man

is

capable,

to be found in their highest

Christianity alone.

and these three are

and purest form in

All the fragments or gleams of

original truth which lingered yet in the religions and

philosophies of the world are contained, elevated, and

perfected in the doctrine of the

Holy

Divine perfections revealed in

of the

Trinity,

and

in

the

it;

doctrine of the Incarnation, and the perfections of

our manhood manifested in the person of Jesus

Christ and in the Sermon on the Mount, interpreted
;

by the example of

Him who

spoke

it.

In these three

INTRODUCTION.

14

and human natures, God

revelations of the Divine

has

made Himself known

to us, as the object of our

love and worship, the pattern of our imitation, and

the source of our eternal

Now

bliss.

no other pre-

tended revelation, no other known religion, so much as

approximates to the truth and purity of the Christian

They are

faith.

visibly true

they contain germs of

and

and pure only

They

it.

wheresoever they depart from

false

bear a twofold testimony to

so far as

are visibly

its perfection,

it.

impure

They

both where

they agree and where they disagree with it. And

that which is true of Christianity, viewed objectively
in

itself, is also

in its history.

visibly true

and Christendom

is

of the
4.

subjectively

the manifestation of all that

is

most God-like in the history

highest, purest, noblest,

of mankind.

when viewed

Christianity has created Christendom

Christianity has borne the first-fruits

human race.

Fourthly, Christianity, in

purity,

unmutilated, and
is

ference,

perfection and its

orb and circum-

Catholicism. All other forms of Christianity

are fragmentary.

and

Christ,

its

full in its

finally

The

revelation given

expanded to

its

first

by Jesus

perfect outline by

the illumination of the day of Pentecost, was spread

throughout the world.

nations,

as

the

It

took possession of

all

dayspring takes possession of the

EACH CONFIRMATORY OF THE OTHER.

15

and expanding steadily and

So the knowledge of God and of His
the world.
And the words of the prophet

face of the earth, rising

irresistibly.

Christ filled

were

fulfilled,

'The idols

shall

not with the axe and the

'

Are not

be utterly destroyed

hammer

'

only, but

by a
and as a

words as a

mightier weapon.
my
fire,
hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ? 2 Idolatry
was swept from the face of the world by the inunda'

tion of the light of the knowledge of the true God.

'

The

earth shall be

filled,

that

men may know

glory of the Lord, as waters covering the

sea.'

the

The

unity and universality of Christianity, and of the

Church

in

which

it

was divinely incorporated, and of

Christendom, which the Church has created, exclude

and convict as new, fragmentary, and false, all forms
of Christianity which are separate and local.

Now

these four truths, as I take leave to call them,

first,

that

it is

the existence of

a violation of reason not to believe in

God

secondly, that

of our moral sense not to believe that

Himself known to man

He

has given

Christianity

is

is

it is

a violation

God

has

made

thirdly, that the revelation

Christianity;

Catholicism

and, fourthly,

these four

that

constitute a

proof the certainty of which exceeds that of any other

moral truth I know. It is not a chain of probabilities,
1

Isaias

ii.

18.

Jer. xxiii. 29.

Hab.

ii.

14.

INTRODUCTION.

16

depending the one upon the other, hut each one

morally certain in

itself.

It is not a chain

hanging

by a link painted upon the wall, as a great philosophical writer of the day well describes the sciences

which depend upon an hypothesis. 1 These four truths,

considered in the natural order alone, rest upon the
reason and the conscience, upon the collective testiof the highest and purest intelligences, and

mony

upon the maximum of evidence in human

The intellectual system

history.

of the world bears its witness

them; the concurrent testimony of the mostelevated

races of mankind confirms them.
They are not four

to

links of

an imaginary chain, but the four corner-

stones of truth.

And

Sapientia sedificavit sibi domum.'

the house which the wisdom of

dwell in

is

God

has built to

the cultivated intellect, or reason of the

mystical body, incorporated and manifested to the

world in the Visible Church.

has

its

and

its

is

the work of God,

apex in the Incarnation, which

tation of God.

God

This wisdom of

base upon nature, which

is

the manifes-

The order of nature is pervaded

witli

primary truths which are known to the natural

reason, and are axioms in the intelligence of mankind.
Such,

I affirm,

without fear of Atheists, or Secularists,

or Positivists, are the existence of God, His moral

1

Whewell's History of the Inductive

Sciences, vol.

i.

p. 16.

THE FAITH THE PERFECTION OF REASON.

17

moral nature of man, the dictates

of conscience, the freedom of the will.
On these
perfections, the

descended other truths from the Father of Lie-hts

as

He saw

fit

to reveal

them

in

measure and in season,

according to the successions of time ordained in the

-

Divine purpose.

The

revelations of the Patriarchs

elevated and

enlarged the sphere of light in the intelligence of

men by

and clearer insight into

the Divine mind, character, and conduct in the world.
The revelation to Moses and to the Prophets raised
their deeper, purer,

higher the fabric of light, which was always

ascending towards the fuller revelation of Gfod yet
to come.
But in all these accessions and unfoldings
still

of the light of God, truth remained

still

one, har-

monious, indivisible a structure in perfect symmetry,

the finite but true reflex of truth as it reposes in the
;

Divine Intelligence.

What

is

Christianity but the

final expression of all

the truths of the natural and

supernatural order in the

Grod has

made Him

recapitulation,

Person of Jesus Christ?

to be the ava/cs(f)a\al(ocn,9, or

of all the

Theism, and of

relating to the nature

truths

summing up and

of

man and

all

the

of the

moral law, which were already found throughout the

world and has set these truths in their place and
;

INTRODUCTION.

18

proportion in the

full revelation

of the

truth as

it is

S. Paul compares the Incarnation to the

Divine action, whereby the light was created on the
'
first day.
(rod, who commanded the light to shine

in Jesus.'

out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give

the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ.'

And

here,

'

perhaps,

may

repeat the words in

which I expressed the same truth some twenty years

ago.
'

the unity of doctrine or faith the Church has

By

taken up
one.

all

philosophies,

and consolidated them

Whether by the momentum of an

revelation, or

in

original

by the continual guidance of a heavenly

teaching, or by the natural convergence of the reason

of

man

towards the unseen realities of truth,

it

is

thoughtful and purer minds were

gazing one way. As the fulness of time drew on,
their eyes were more and more intently fixed on one
certain

that

all

" more than

they that watch for
point in the horizon,
"
the morning ; and all the lights of this fallen world
were bent towards one central region, in which at last
they met and kindled. The one Faith was the focus
of all philosophies, in which they were fused, purified,

and blended.

The

eternity, the uncreated substance,

1

2 Cor. iv. 6.

OTHER RELIGIONS FRAGMENTARY AND LOCAL.

19

the infinity of goodness, wisdom, and power, the transcendent majesty, the true personality, and the moral
providence of the One supreme Maker and Buler of

the world was affirmed from heaven.

The

scattered

truths which had wandered

up and down the earth,

and had been in part adored, and in part held in unrighteousness, were now elected and called home, and
were regenerated, and gathered into one blessed
company, and glorified once more as the witnesses of
as it

the Eternal.
4

God was

manifested as the

life

of the world, and

yet not so as to be one with the world

man

to

life

God was

to

The

man.

revealed

but as dis-

God was manifested

tinct, yet filling all things.

the source of

as

affinity of the soul of

and the actual participa-

man, through the gift of grace, in the Divine

nature, and yet not so as to extinguish the distinct
tion of

and immortal being of each individual

'

In thus taking up into

itself all

soul.

the scattered

family of truth, the one Faith abolished all the inter-

mingling falsehoods of four thousand years.

There-

fore it follows, as a just corollary, that in affirming

the unity and the sovereignty of God,

the whole system of

many

all

created being

is

annihilated

subordinate deities.

declared absolutely that there

that

it

is

It

no Gocl but one;

generically distinct, and has

c 2

INTRODUCTION.

20
in

it

no Divine prerogative.

It

taught mankind that

the wisest and the best of earth pass not the bounds
of man's nature

mankind
being

are,

that the passions and energies of

by

Gfod's ordinance, parts of

man's own

that they are not his lords, but themselves

subject to his control

that the powers of nature are

no gods, but the pressures of the one Almighty hand;

and that the visible works of God are fellow-creatures
with man, and put under his

To

say that Christianity

licism

is

Christianity,

is

is

feet.'

Catholicism, and Catho-

There

to utter a truism.

was but One Truth, the same in

all

the world, until

the perverse will and the perverted intellect of

man

fragments from the great whole, and detained them in combination with error, holding the

broke

off

'

truth in injustice

human
of God.

falsehood,

'

that

is,

imprisoned in bondage to

and turned against the Revelation

There cannot be two

Christianities, neither

can a fragment be mistaken for the whole. The

mountain has filled the whole earth, and the drift and
detritus which fall from it cannot be taken,
illusion, to be the mountain.

tianity

is its

identity with its original,and

in all the world.

The unity

It is one

by any

of Chris-

its

identity

and the same everywhere,

The Unity of the Church, pp. 205, 206.

DEFINITION OF THE TEMPORAL MISSION.

and therefore
tianity

is

The unity

of Chris-

related to its universality, as theologians say

who

of God,

it is universal.

21

is

One not

so

much by number

as

by

His immensity, which pervades eternity and excludes

So it may be said there is one truth which
all other.
pervades the rational creation in various degrees from
the first lights of nature, which lie upon the circumference, to the full illumination of the Incarnation of

God, which reigns in its centre; and this divine order

and hierarchy of truth excludes all other, and is both
the reflex and the reality of the Truth whicli inhabits

When

the Divine Intelligence.

cism, I

mean

then I say Catholi-

perfect Christianity, undiminished, full-

orbed, illuminating all nations, as S. Irenaeus says,

like the sun, one

seems to

me

and the same in every

that no

man

place.

It

can believe the doctrine of

and perfection without

For in the
in the end believing in Catholicism.
doctrine of the Holy Trinity are revealed to us Three

the Holy Trinity in

Persons and three

its

fulness

offices

the

the Son and Eedemption

Father and Creation

the Holy Ghost and the

Whosoever believes in these three Divine

Church.

Works, holds implicitly the indivisible unity and the

perpetual infallibility of the Church.

S. Iren.

Contra Heret.

lib.

i.

But

cap. x. sect. 2.

into this,

'22

INTRODUCTION.

as it will be the subject of the first of the following

chapters, I shall not enter now.

I will

make

only one remark upon

tion of the title of this volume.

By

it

in explana-

the Temporal

Mission of the Holy Ghost, Catholic theologians understand the sending, advent, and office of the Holy

Ghost through the Incarnate Son, and after the day

of Pentecost.
This is altogether distinct from His
Eternal Procession and Spiration from the Father

and the Son.

tical

Now, it

is

remarkable that the schisma-

Greeks, in order to justify their rejection of the

Filioque, interpret the passages of the Scriptures and

of the Fathers in which the
to proceed or to

Holy Ghost is declared

be sent from the Father and the Son,

On

of His Temporal Mission into the world.

other hand, in these last centuries, those

the

who have

rejected the perpetual office of the Holy Ghost in the

Church by rejecting its perpetual infallibility, interpret the same passages, not of the Temporal Mission,
but of the Eternal Procession.

The Catholic theology, with the divine

faith

which governs

its

tradition of

conceptions and definitions,

propounds to us both the Eternal Procession

and the

Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, from the Father

and the Son the one in eternitv, the other in time

the

eternal

completing the

mystery

of the

Holy

TESTIMONY OF
Trinity

ad

AUGUSTINE.

S.

28

intra, the temporal completing- the reve-

lation of the

Holy Trinity ad

extra.

In commenting on the sin against the Holy Ghost,

'
And for this cause both the
S. Augustine says
:

Jews and such

heretics, whatsoever they be,

who

be-

lieve in the Holy Ghost, but deny His presence in the

body of Christ that is, in His only Church, which is
no other than the Church, one and Catholic without

doubt are like the Pharisees who, at that day, though

they acknowledged the existence of the Holy Spirit,
He then
yet denied that He was in the Christ.'
argues as follows

For to

'
:

the fellowship by which

the only Son of
'

God

we

whosoever hath not the

of His.

For, to

perly belong the

who

that Spirit

whom

Him
are

the one body of

wherefore,' he says again,

spirit of Christ,

he

is

none

in the Trinity should pro-

communion
is

[the Spirit] belongs

made

common

of this fellowship but to

to the Father

and the

That they who are separated from the Church

have not this Spirit, the Apostle Jude openly deSon

clared.'

In these passages

affirms that, to deny the

the Church,

is

to

S.

Augustine distinctly
Holy Ghost in

office of the

deny a part of the doctrine of the

So again, speaking of the absolution of sin,

S. Augustine ascribes it to the operation of the Three

Trinity.

Persons.

'

For the Holy Ghost dwells in no one

INTRODUCTION.

24

without the Father and the Son

the Father and the Holy Ghost

the Father.
operation

is

nor the Son without

nor without them

For their indwelling is inseparable whose

.

inseparable.

But, as I have already

often said, the remission of sins, whereby the king-

dom

of the spirit divided

thrown and

against himself

is

over-

and, therefore, the fellowship

cast out

of the unity of the

Church of God, out of which the

remission of sins

not given

is

is

the proper

office

of

the Holy Ghost, the Father and the Son co-operating

for the Holy Ghost Himself is the fellowship of the

.
Father and the Son.
Whosoever therefore is
.

guilty of impenitence against the Spirit, in

whom the

unity and fellowship of the communion of the Church

is held together, it shall never be forgiven him, because he

hath closed against himself the way of

remission, and shall justly be condemned with the
spirit

who

is

divided against himself, being also

divided against the Holy Ghost, who, against Himself,

is

not divided.

And, therefore, all congregations,

or rather dispersions, which call themselves churches
.

of Christ, and are divided and contrary

selves,

among them-

and to the congregation of unity which is His

nor because they seem to

true Church, are enemies

have His name, do they therefore belong to His conThey would indeed belong to it if the
gregation.

TESTIMONY OF
Holy Ghost, in

whom

S.

AUGUSTINE.

25

this congregation is associated

together, were divided against Himself. But, because

this is not so (for he who is not with Christ is against

Him, and he who gathers not with Him

therefore, all sin

men

unto

'

is

all

blasphemy

scatters),

shall be remitted

in this congregation, which Christ gathers

together in the

which

and

Holy Ghost, and not

divided against himself.'

Ac per hoc

in the spirit

et Judaei et quieurnque haeretici Spiritum Sanctum

esse in Christi corpore, quod est unica

eum negant

confitentur, sed

ejus Ecclesia, non utique nisi una catholica, procul dubio similes
sunt Pharisaeis, qui tunc etiamsi esse Spiritum Sanctum fatebantur,

negabant tamen
pertinet societas,

Ad ipsum enim
esse in Christo
qua efficimur unum corpus unici Filii Dei
Quisquis autem Spiritum Christi non habet, hie
eum

Unde item dicit,

non est ejus. Ad quem ergo in Trinitate proprie pertineret hujus
communio societatis, nisi ad eum Spiritum qui est Patri Filioque
communis ? Hunc Spiritum quod illi non habeant, qui sunt ab
Ecclesia segregati, Judas apostolus apertissime declaravit.

Neque

enim habitat

Spiritus Sanctus nisi Patre et Filio sicut

nee Filius sine Patre et Spiritu Sancto, nee sine illis Pater. Inin

quoquam

separabilis quippe est habitatio,

....

quorum

est inseparabilis operatic

Sed ut jam non semel diximus, ideo remissio peccatorum, qua

in se divisi spiritus evertitur et expellitur regnum, ideo societas

unitatis Ecclesia? Dei, extra quarti non sit ista remissio peccatorum,
est opus Spiritus Sancti, Patre sane et Filio
cooperantibus, quia societas est quodam modo Patris et Filii ipse
Spiritus Sanctus
Quisquis igitur reus fuerit impcenitentiae

tamquam proprium

contra Spiritum, in quo unitas et societas communionis congregatur

Ecclesia?, nunquam illi remittetur: quia hoc sibi clausit, ubi remittitur: et merito damnabitur cum spiritu qui in se ipsum divisus est

Sanctum qui in se ipsum divisus non

Et propterea omnes congregationes, velpotiusdispersiones,

divisus et ipse contra Spiritum

est.

quae

se Christi Ecclesias appellant, et sunt inter se divisae atque

INTRODUCTION.

2G

Like as in the old world the divine tradition of

the knowledge of

and fragmentary
the faith

is

God was encompassed by

encompassed by fragmentary Christian-

The

and fragmentary churches.

ities

corrupt

religions, so the divine tradition of

belief in the

unity of God, before the Incarnation, was broken up

into the polytheisms of Egypt, Greece,

Since the Incarnation tins cannot be.

nation of the

Word made

flesh renders

and Rome.

The

illumi-

impossible

all

polytheism and idolatry. The unity and the spirituality of the eternal God are now axioms of the

human

But, as S.

reason.

observes, the analogy

still

Augustine profoundly

holds between the errors

of the old creation and of the new.

Satan, as he

can no longer divide the true God, nor bring

among us false gods, therefore he has sent strifes
'

says,

in

amoug Christians. Because he could not fabricate

many gods, therefore he has multiplied sects, and
sown

errors,

and

set

up

heresies.'

eongregationi, quae vera est Ecclesia ejus,

non quia videntur ejus habere noraen, idcirco pertinent ad
ejus congregat ionem. Pertinerent autem, si Spiritus Sanetus, in quo
consociatur hsec congregatio. adversum se ipsum dirisus esset. Hoc
autem quia non est (qui enim non est cum Christ o, contra ipsum est
et qui cum illo non congregat, spargit :) ideo peccatum omno atque
omnis blasphemia dimittetur hc-minibus in hao congregations, quam in
contraripe, et unitatis

inimiese,

Spiritu Sancto, et non at versus se ipsum drviso, congregat Christus.'

Aug. Seryno lxxi., in Matt, xii., torn. v. pp. 386, 398, 401, 403.
Unum Deum nobis dividere non potest. Falsos deos, nobis
1

S.
1

'

CONTAINS THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE CHURCH. 27

And

here I desire to

fulfil

a duty which I have

hoped one day to discharge; but I have

hitherto been withheld by a fear lest I should seem
always

to ascribe importance to anything I

said,

mean,

to

may have

make a formal retractation

me when I was out

tain errors published by

light of the Catholic faith, and

ever

of cerof the

knew no better.

do

may have written

But an error is a denial

not hereby imagine that anything I

carries with it

any authority.
we owe a reparation to the truth

of the truth, and

for the

Person.

Truth

is

I desire therefore to undo, as far as I

the errors into which I unconsciously

chiefly three

oppositions I

fell.

may,

They

are

and these three are the only formal

can remember to have made against

They were made,

the Catholic Church.

I believe,

temperately and soberly, with no heat or passion

without, I trust, a word of invective.
1.

on

'

First, in the year

The Eule

not an abstraction, but a Divine

838, 1 published a small

\\

ork

of Faith,' in which, following with im-

language of the chief Anglican

divines, I erroneously maintained that the old and
true rule of faith is Scripture and antiquity, and I
plicit confidence the

Lites immisit inter Christianos quia

supponere non potest.'
multos cleos non potest fabricare sectas muitiplicavit, errores semi'

navit, hsereses instituit.'

INTRODUCTION.

28
rejected as

first,

new and untenable two

other rules of faith,

the private judgment of the individual

and,

secondly, the interpretations of the living Church.

2.

Secondly, in 1841, I published a book on the

Unity of the Church,' in which I maintained it to be

one, visible, and organised, descending by succession
from the beginning by the spiritual fertility of the
6

But while

thought that the unity of

the Church is organic and moral that the organic
unity consists in succession, hierarchy, and valid
sacraments, and the moral in the communion of
hierarchy.

charity

and

all

among

all

the

members of

particular churches,

the churches of the Catholic unity, I erro-

neously thought that this moral unity might be

permanently suspended, and even lost, while the

organic unity remained intact, and that unity of

communion belongs only

to the perfection, not to

the intrinsic essence of the Church.

3.

Thirdly, in a sermon preached before the Uni-

versity of Oxford on

November

5,

1843, speaking of

the conflicts between the Holy See and the Crown of

'
It would seem to be
England, I used the words
the will of heaven that the dominion of the Roman
:

Pontificate

and

may

never be again set up in this Church

realm.'

Now

I feel that I

owe a reparation

to the truth for

RETRACTATION OF FALSE RULE OF FAITH.

these three errors.
that, for

Beyond

these, I

am

29

not aware

any published statements, I have any repamake. And I feel that, as the statements

rations to

were not declamations, but reasoned propositions, so

ought the refutation to be likewise.

The whole

of the following

work

will, I

a clear and reasoned retractation of those

hope, be
errors, so

that I need now do no more than express, in the

fewest words, what it was which led me in 1851 to

revoke the statements I had

made

in 1841

and 1838.

one word, the subject of this volume,

the Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost. As soon
It was, in

as I perceived the Divine fact that the

of

God

Holy

Spirit

has united Himself indissolubly to the mys-

tical body, or

Church of Jesus Christ,

I saw at once

that the interpretations or doctrines of the living

Church are true because Divine, and that the voice
of the living Church in all ages
faith,

and

Person.
alone, or

infallible,

because

then saw that

to Scripture

individuals or by local

it is

all

is

the sole rule of

the voice of a Divine

appeals to Scripture

and antiquity, whether by

churches, are no more than

and
appeals from the divine voice of the living Church,
that
I
rationalistic.
therefore essentially
perceived

had imposed upon myself by speaking of three

that the only question is between two
rules of faith

INTRODUCTION'.

80

judges

the individual proceeding by

critical reason,

a perpetual Divine

Church proceeding by
But as I shall have to touch upon

or the

assistance.

in the

As

chapter, I dismiss it

first

this

now.

to the second point, the unity of the Church,

had not understood from whence the principle of

unity is derived. It had seemed to be a constitutional
I

from external organisation, highly

I
beneficial, but not a vital necessity to the Church.
law, springing

seemed

to trace the visible

Church to

its

Founder and

His apostles as a venerable and world-wide institution, the channel of grace, the witness for God, and the
instrument of the discipline and probation to men.
I

had not

Church

is

as yet perceived that the unity of the

the external expression of the intrinsic and

necessary law of

unity of its
will

or, in

its

existence; that

Head, of

its Life,

it

flows

from the

of its mind, and of

its

other words, from the unity of the Per-

son of the Incarnate Son,

who

reigns in

it,

and of the

Holy Ghost, who organises

sustains it

His

voice.

it by His inhabitation,
and
His
speaks through it by
presence,
by

The

external unity, therefore,

is

not the

cause but the effect of a vital law, which informs

and governs the organisation of the Mystical Body,

springing from within, and manifesting itself without,
like as the

animation and development of the body

RETRACTATION OF FALSE THEORY OF UNITY.

31

man, which springs from a vital principle, one

and indivisible in its operations and its essence. All
of a

this escaped

way

me

while

my

eyes were holden in the

of twilight where I had been born.

The more

read of Anglican writers upon the Church, such as

Hooker, Field, Bilson, Taylor, Barrow, the more conThe air grew thick
fused all seemed to become.

When from them

around me.

came

to the Fathers,

the preconceived modes of interpretation floated be-

tween

me and

S. Cyprian,

read to

many

me

'

the page.

The well-known words

of

Unus Deus, unus Christus, una Ecclesia,'

One God, one Christ, one Church,' of

'

branches,

many

streams,

many

therefore, in the trunk, the fountain,

rays

one,

and the source,

but not one by a continuous and coherent expansion

and identity. I seemed to see the old dream of
organic unity surviving where moral unity is lost. I

was ascribing to Grod a

numerical unity, to Christ a numerical unity, to the
Church a numerical plurality that I was playing
failed to see that in this I

fast

that

and

loose,

while I

using the word One in two senses

confessed

that

Grod

is

one to

the

exclusion of plurality and division, and that Christ

one to the exclusion of plurality and division, I

was affirming the Church to be one, including divi-

is

sion

and

plurality,

and that in the same breath, and

INTRODUCTION.

32

by the same syllables. Nothing but a life-long

illusion, which clouds the reason by the subtleties of
controversy, could have held

me

so long in such a

But nothing, I believe, would ever have

me free if I had not begun to study the question

bondage.
set

from a higher point that is in its fountain

the Mission and Office of the Holy Ghost.

namely,
When

had once apprehended

primary truth, both Scripture and the Fathers seemed to stand out from the
this

page with a new

I then, for the

light, self-evident

first

and inevitable.

time, saw a truth of surpassing

moment, which for my whole life had escaped me

namely, that One means One and no more. The
;

unity of God, and of Christ, and of the Church is

God is one
predicated univocally, not ambiguously.
in Nature, Christ one in Person, the

Church one in

organisation and singularity of subsistence, depending

on its Head, who is One, and animated by the Holy

Ghost,

who

is

the members,

likewise One, the principle of union to

who

constitute the one body by the inI could then understand

trinsic unity of its life.

why

Cyprian not only likens the Unity of the Church

to the seamless robe of Jesus, but also the weaving of
S.

that robe to the formation of the Church, which, he

says, is
1

'

woven desuper,

Unitatem

ilia

'

from the top throughout,'

'

portabat de euperiore parte venientem, id est de

UNITY NUMERICAL AND SINGULAR.

33

by heavenly Sacraments that is, its unity descends

from its Head, who impresses upon His mystical body
;

the same law of visible and indivisible unity which

constitutes the perfection of His natural
body.

Such, then,

why, though I
of the Church

what

a brief statement of the reasons-

is

still
'

believe the

to be in the

Book on

'

the Unity

main sound and true in

relates to the visibleness

and organisation of

the Church, I must retract all that relates to the

moral unity or communion.

Nevertheless, for an adequate expression of

loss of

reasons, I

must

refer the

reader

to

my

the following

pages.

Lastly

as to the Pontificate of the Vicar of Jesus

Christ, this is neither the time nor the place to enter

into the subject.

may

say,

however, in a word, that

the point last spoken of prescribes a truer belief in

the office of the Head of the Church on earth. The

Primacy of honour, but

'

not of jurisdiction,'

a plurality of divided Churches,

disappears

when the

is

an

illusion

among
which

true and divine unity of the

kingdom which cannot be divided against itself rises

into view.
I saw in this the twofold relation of the
ooelo et a patre

omnino non
biliter

vcnicntcm, quae ab acc'piente ac possidento scimli

poterat, sed totam siimil et solidam firmitateui inscpira-

obtinebat.' S. Cyp.

Be

Unit. Ecclcs., Opp. p. 196. Ed. Ealuz.

INTRODUCTION.

34
visible

Head

of the Church, the one to the whole-

Body upon earth, the other to the Divine Head,

whose vicar and representative he is. A new history
of Christendom then unrolled itself before me, not
that of our Lord as written by the Jews, but by His
own Evangelists. I understood, what I never saw
before, the

meaning of Supreme

of Jesus Christ.

1843 I spoke

But into

Pope'
so

as

much

which

rashly, or rather ignorantly in unbelief.

this I cannot further

refer to a

and of Vicar

Pontiff,

I acknowledge, therefore, that in

volume on the

enter now.

may

'

Temporal Power of the

more
fully that which I did not
expressing
as see afar off

hereby

when

I uttered the words

retract.

All things around us tell of one of those periods

winch come, from time to time, upon the Church and

the bodies which surround it. Three hundred years
have revealed at length the intrinsic anarchy and
rationalism of the so-called Eeformation.

ing away before our eyes.

The men

It

is

pass-

of to-day re-

luctantly and unconsciously are undoing what their

fathers did

justifying

unwilling testimony.

God by their
of human guides

the Church of

The followers

are disbanding and dispersing on every side

some

further and further from the Light, deeper into the

land

'

ubi umbra mortis et nullus ordo

'

others are

PROTESTANT REFORMATION PASSING AWAY.

35

turning back towards the illumination which han^s

over the world in the Church of Gfod.

They

are

wayfaring painfully and in fear towards the east,

meeting the dayspring which is rising upon them,

journeying into the sun, which is as the light of

seven days, the Person of the Spirit in the Church
of Jesus Christ.

But

it is

time to make an end.

words of introduction, therefore,

With

these few

I will leave the sub-

of
ject, with the prayer that the same Holy Spirit
Truth, Who has brought me out of darkness into the
light of Divine Faith,

may

likewise reveal to others

His perpetual office, as the Divine and Infallible

Teacher among men.

u 2

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

CHAPTER

I.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST TO THE CHURCH.

purpose is to show the relation of

the Holy Spirit to the Church or Mystical Body of

In this chapter

Jesus Christ.

my

It

not by accident, or by mere order

is

of enumeration, that in the Baptismal Creed we say,

'

I believe in the

Church.'

Holy

And

Spirit
this

eternal,

Holy

These two
is

union

Grhost, the

united with
is

Holy Catholic

articles are united because the

the

Body.

Mystical

divinely constituted, indissoluble,

the source of supernatural endowments to

the Church which can never be absent from

suspended in

their operation.

it,

or

The Church of

all

ages, and of all times, is immutable in its hioivledge,

discernment, and enunciation of the truth and
;

that in virtue of

its

indissoluble union with the

Holy

Ohost, and of His perpetual teaching by its living

voice, not only from council to council, and from age
to age, with an intermittent

but always, and at

all times,

and broken utterance,

by its continuous enun-

TO THE CIIUECH.
ciation of the Faith, as well as

by

37
its

authoritative

decrees.

dogmatic
In order to show that in what follows I
repeating the language of the

am

but

Scriptures, Fathers,

and Theologians, I will begin by quotations, and

afterwards draw out certain conclusions from them.

And

I.

the testimonies from Scripture, which,

first,

being familiar to

all,

shall be recited as briefly as

possible.

promised that His departure should

be followed by the advent of a Person like Himself

Our

IiOrd

another Paraclete

the

ceedeth from the Father

Spirit of Truth,
'
:

who

I will ask the Father,

pro-

and

He may
He
The Spirit of Truth, whom
abide with you for ever.
the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not,
nor knoweth Him but you shall know Him because
He shall abide with you, and shall be in you.'
The Paraclete the Holy Ghost whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you ail
you another Paraclete, that

shall give

'

things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever

I shall have said to you.'
i

It is expedient for

you that

go

the Paraclete will not come to you

will send
1

S.

Him

to you.'

Johnxiv.

16, 17.

for if I

go not,

but

I go, I

if

lb. 26.

lb. xvi. 7.

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

38
1

When He,

teach you
self

the Spirit of Truth,

For He

all truth.

hut what things soever

speak

He

shall glorify

Me

of Mine, and shall shew

He

come,

shall not speak of

He

because

He

will

Him-

He

shall

shall

shew

shall hear,

and the things that are to come He

you.

is

shall receive

to you.

All things what-

soever the Father hath, are Mine.

Therefore I said,

He

shall receive of

The

it

Mine, and shew

it

to you.'

'

fulfilment of this promise ten days after the

Ascension, was accomplished on the day of Pentecost

by the personal Advent of the Holy Ghost, to abide

for ever as the Guide and Teacher of the faithful, in
the

name and

stead of the Incarnate Son.

I forbear

to quote the second chapter of the book of Acts, in

which

not only recorded but de-

this divine fact is

clared by the

Holy

Spirit Himself.

S. Paul has traced out the events and succession in

this divine order, connecting

them with the

creation

and organisation of the Church, where he says, ' One

body and one spirit as you are called in one hope
:

of your calling.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

of all, who is above all and

One God and Father

through

all,

and in us

all.

But

to every one of us is

given grace according to the measure of the giving of

Christ.

Wherefore
1

He
S.

saith,

John

"Ascending on high

xvi. 13-16.

TO THE CHURCH.

He

led captivity

Now,

He

that

captive

He

ascended, what

gave
is it,

39
gifts to

men."

but because

He

also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ?

He

that descended

above

is

the same also that ascended

the heavens, that

all

And He gave some

He might fill

apostles,

all things.

and some prophets, and

other some evangelists, and other some pastors and

For the perfection of the

doctors.

saints, for

the

work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of

Christ until we all meet into the unity of faith, and
;

of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect

man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of
Christ: that henceforth
to

and

fro,

we be no more children

tossed

and carried about with every wind of doc-

trine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness,

by which they

lie

truth in charity,

Him who

is

in wait to deceive.

we may

But doing the

in all things

the Head, even Christ

from

grow up in

Whom

the

whole body, being compacted and fitly joined togeto the

ther, by what every joint supplieth, according

maketh inoperation of the measure of every part,

crease of the body unto the edifying of itself in
l

charity.'

The same

delineation of the Church as the Mystical

Body runs through the epistles to the Romans and

1

Ephes.

iv.

4-16.

KELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

40

'

the Corinthians.

members, but

all

For

as in one

body we have many-

members have not the same

we being many are one body

one members one of another.'
so

office

in Christ, and every

'

Again to the Corinthians,

after

enumerating with

great particularity the gifts and operations of the'

Holy Ghost he adds, that All these things one and

the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will. For as the body is one and hath many

members

and

all

the

members of the body, whereas

they are many, yet are one body so also is Christ..

For in one Spirit were we all baptized into onebody,
;

whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or

free

Now

you are the body of Christ, and

member.'

and

in one Spirit we have all been made to drink.

the body also is not one member, but many.

For
.

members

of

I will quote only one other passage.

to the operation of the

in Christ, raising

and setting

Him

places, above all

According

of His power, which

might

He wrought

'

Him up from the

dead,

on His right hand in the heavenly

and virtue
principality and power,

and dominion, and every name that is named, not

is to come.
only in this world, but also in that which

And hath
1

Rom.

His feet
subjected all things under
xii. 4, 5.

Cor.

xii. 11, 12, 13, 14,

27.

and

TO THE CHURCH.
"hath

made Him head

over

all

41

the Church, which

His body, and the fulness of Him, who

in

all.'

is

filled all

is

In these passages we have the interpretation of

'
As yet the Spirit was not given,
S. John's words
:

because Jesus was not yet

The Ascension

that

is,

glorified.'

the departure of the Second

Person of the Holy Trinity was hereby declared to

be the condition ordained of (rod for the advent

and perpetual presence of the Third. And the coming

of the Holy Ghost is likewise declared to be the con'

dition of the creation, quickening,

of the mystical body, which

is

and organisation

the Church of Jesus

Christ.
II.

Next, for the teaching of the Fathers

S. Irenseus,

who may be

and

said to represent the

first,.

mind

of S. John and of the Church, both in the East and

in the "West, paraphrases as follows the above pas-

sages of Scripture

In drawing out the parallel of the first creation

and the second, of the old Adam and the new, and of
the analogy between the Incarnation or natural body

and the Church or mystical body of Christ, he says

1

Eph.

i.

19-23.

S.

John

3
:

vii. 39.

In fide nostra, quam perceptam ab Ecclesia custodinms, et qu

semper a Spiritu Dei, quasi in vase bono eximium quoddam
'

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

42
'

Our

from the Church, which (receives)

-always from the Spirit of God as an excellent gift in
a noble vessel, always young and making young the
faith received

which

vessel itself in

For

it is.

this gift of

intrusted to the Church, as the breath of

imparted) to the

members partaking
life.

man,

first

God

life

(was

to this end, that all the

might be quickened with

And thus the communication of Christ is im-

parted

that

is,

of

the

it

Holy Ghost, the earnest of

incorrupt ion, the confirmation of the faith, the

of ascent to God.

placed

is

apostles,

way

For in the Church (he says) God

prophets, doctors, and all other

operations of the Spirit, of which none are partakers

depositmn juvenescens, ct juveneseere faciens ipsum vaa in quo est.
Hoc eiiini Ecclesiae creditum est Dei nnmus, queniadmodum ad
inspirationem plasmationi, ad hoc ut omnia membra percipientia
ct in eo deposita est communicatio Christi, id est,
Spiritus Sanctus, arrha incorrupt el a?, et confirmatio fidei nostra?, et
scala ascensionis ad Dettm. In Ecclesia enim, inquit, posuit Deus

vivifieentnr

Apostolos, Proplietas, doctores, et universam reliquam operationetn

Spiritus: cujus non sunt participes omnes, qui non currunt ad
Ecclesiam, sed semetipsos fraudant a vita, per sententiam malam,
et

Uli enim Ecclesia, i i et Spiritus Dei

Ecclesia, et omnis gratia: Spiritus autem

opcrationem pessimam.

et ubi Spiritus Dei,

illic

Quapropter qui non participant eum, neque a mammillis

matris nutriuntur in vitani, nequo percipiunt de corpore Christi
procedentem nitidissimum font em sed effodiunt sibi lacus detritos

Veritas.

de fossis terrenis, ct do cceno putidam bibunt aquam, effugientea

fidem Ecclesiae, ne traducantur rejicientes vero Spirit um, at non
erudiantur.'

S. Iren. Cont.

Hard.

lib.

iii.

cap. 24.

TO THE CHURCH.

who do not come

43

to the Church, thereby depriving

life by a perverse mind and by worse

For where the Church is, there is also the

themselves of
deeds.

Spirit of
,is

God

and where the Spirit of God

the Church and

all

grace.

But the

Spirit

is,

is

there
truth.

Wherefore they who do not partake of Him (the

Spirit), and are not nurtured unto life at the breast
of the mother (the Church), do not receive of that

most pure fountain which proceeds from the Body of

Christ, but dig out for themselves broken pools from
the trenches of the earth, and drink water stained

with mire, because they turn aside from the faith of

the Church lest they should be convicted, and reject

the Spirit

lest

they should be taught.'

Tertullian says, speaking of the Baptismal Creed

l
:

But forasmuch as the attestation of (our) faith and

the promise of our salvation are pledged by three
witnesses, the mention of the

added, since where these are

Son, and

Holy Ghost

there

Church

that

is

is

necessarily

the Father,

is,

the Church, which

is

the Body of the Three.'

Augustine, in expounding the Creed, remarks

S.

Quum autem

sub tribus et testatio

fidei, et sponsio salutis

quoniam ubi
adjicitur Ecclesire mentio
tres, id est Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, ibi Ecclesia, quae
1

'

pignercntur,

neccssario

trium corpus

est.'

Tertul. Be

Baj)t. sect. vi. ed. Eigalt. p. 226.

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

44

on the relation in which the

Church

article of the

stands to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

He says

*
:

In like manner we ought to believe in the Holy

Ghost, that the Trinity, which is God, may have its

Then the Holy Church

fulness.

is

mentioned

the right order of the confession required that to

the Trinity should be subjoined the Church, as the
dwelling to the inhabitant, and as His temple to the

Lord, and the city to its builder.'

2 '
For what the soul
Again he says
:

is

to the body

of a man, that the Holy Ghost

is to the
body of
is
the
What
which
Church.
the
Christ,
Holy Ghost
does in the whole Church, that the soul does in all

'

Sic

credero

compleatur,
.

qxise

nos ct in Spiritum Sanctum, ut ilia Trinitas

est; deinde sancta commemoratur Eeelesia.

Deus

Rectus itaque confessionis ordo poscebat, ut Trinitati sub-

jungeretur Eeelesia, tamquam habitatori domus sua, et Deo templum

suum, et conditori civitas sua.' S. Aug. Enchirid. de Fide, cap. 56,

torn. vi. p. 217.

2

Quod autem est anima corpori hominis, hoc cstSpiritus Sanctus

corpori Christi, quod est Eeelesia: hoc agit Spiritus Sanctus in
tota Eeelesia, quod agit anima in omnibus membris unius corporis.
'

Sed videte quid caveatis, videteqtddobservetis, videtequidtimeatis.

Contingit ut in corpore humano, immo de corpore aliquodprascidatui*
meinbrum, manus, digitus, pes; numquid prsecisum sequitur anima?

Cum

Sic et
corpore esset, vivebat pra;cisum andttit vitam.
Christianus Catholicus est, dum in corpore vivit proecisus;
hareticus factus est, membrum amputatum non sequitur Spiritus.
in

homo

Si ergo vultis vivere de Spiritu Sancto, tenete caritatem, amate

veritatem, desiderate unitatem, ut perveniatis ad aetcrnitatem.'

S.

Aug. Sermo in Die Pentecost.

I. torn. v. p.

1090.

TO THE CHURCH.
the members of one body.

beware
a

man

of,

it

to

watch over, and to

may

it

was

alive

may

what ye have to
In the body of

fear.

be cut

member?

follow the severed

body

see

happen that a member, the hand, the

finger, or the foot,

is

But

45

cut

Does the soul

off.

While

was in the

it

So a

off, its life is lost.

a Christian and a Catholic while he

man

alive in the

is

body cut off, he becomes a heretic. The Holy

Ghost does not follow the amputated limb. If therefore ye would live by the Holy Ghost, hold fast
;

charity, love truth, desire unity, that ye

may

attain

unto eternity.'

And
one

again

spirit."

'
:

Paul the Apostle

Listen,

says,

" One
body,

The

members of that body.

made up of many members, and one spirit

body
quickens them all. Behold, by the spirit of a man,
is

by which I myself

members

am

a man, I hold together

command them

to

move

all

the

I direct the

eyes to see, the ears to hear, the tongue to speak, the

hands to work, the

members
all in one.

are done

who

is

is to

The

feet to walk.

offices

of the

are divided severally, but one spirit holds

Many
there

obeyed.

are

commanded, and many things

one only who commands, and one

What our spirit that is, our soul

is

our members, that the Holy Ghost

members of

Christ, to the

body of

Christ,

is

to the

which

is

RELATION OF

46

Therefore the Apostle, when

the Church.

spoken of the one body, lest

be a dead body, says

body alive? It
" There
the one Spirit.
this

may

we

" There

Is this

To

HOLY GHOST

TILE

hand.

had
it to^

is

one body."

I ask,

is

alive.

Whence?

From

is

one Spirit."

'

'

be added a passage which has been

ascribed to S. Augustine, but

'

lie

should suppose

is

probably by another

Therefore the Holy Ghost

on

this

day

(Pentecost) descended into the temple of His apostles,

which He had prepared for Himself, as a shower of

(He came) no more

sanctification.
visitor,

as a transient

but as a perpetual comforter and as an eternal

inhabitant.

He came

therefore on this day to

no longer by the grace of visitation and

but
by the very Presence of His Majesty ;
operation,
and into those vessels, no longer the odour of the

His

disciples,

union corpus ct loins spiritus. Mem'Piiulus (licit Apostolus

bra nostra, attendite. 3Iultis membris constitutum est corpus, et
regetat membra omnia unus spiritus. Ecco humano spiritu, quo
sum ego ipse homo, membra omnia colligo impcro membris ut
1

moveantur, intendo oculos ad videndum, aim's ad audiendum,

linguam ad loquendum, mamis ad operandum, pedes ad ambulandum.
Officia membrorum dispartita sunt,sed unus spiritus continet omnia.
Multa jubentur, multa fiunt: unus jubot, uni servitur. Quod est
spiritus noster, id est

anima

nostra, ad

membra

nostra; hoc Spiritus

membra Christ ad corpus Christi, quod est Ecclesia.

Ideo Apostolus, cum corpus urmm nominasset, no intelligeremus
mortuum corpus: Union inquit corpus. Sed rogo te, vivit hoc
Unde?
De uno spiritu.' Et unus spiritus'
Vivit.
corpus?
Sanctus ad

i,

S.

Aug. Scrmo

in Die rent. II. torn. v. p. 1001.

TO THE CHURCH.

47

balsam, but the very Substance of the sacred Unction flowed down, from whose fragrance the breadth

of the whole world was to be

filled,

and

came

made

partakers

God.'

to

doctrine

their

to be

all

who
of

From

these principles S. Augustine declares the

Church to possess a mystical personality. He says

The Head and the body are one man, Christ and
:

'

the Church are one man, a perfect

bridegroom, she the bride.

he

says,

And

" in one

again he says

person, of the

and the
one

flesh."

Head and

bride.'

flesh, hoiv

'
:

And

not

'

" And

they

shall

He

the

be two,"

Therefore of two

is

made one

the body, of the bridegroom

further

tivo

man

'
:

If there are two in

in one voice

Therefore let

Christ speak, because in Christ the Church speaks,,

and in the Church Christ speaks, both the body in

'

Ergo Spiritus Sanctus in hac die ad prseparata siLi Apostolorum

suorum templa, A-elut imber sanctificationis illapsus est, nan jam
visitator subitus, sed perpetuus consolator, et habitator seternus.
Adfuit ergo in hac die fidelibus suis non jam per gratiam visitationis
et opcrationis, sed per ipsam prsesentiam majestatis at
que in rasa
non jam odor balsami, sed ipsa substantia sacri defluxit nnguenti,
.

ex eujus fragrantia latitudo totius corporis impleretur, et appropinquantes ad eorumdoctrinam, Dei fierent capaeos et particiDes.'
S. Aug. Sermo in Die Pent. I. torn. v. Append,
p. 308.

Umis homo caput et corpus, unus

vir perfectus, ille sponsus, ilia sponsa.
'

carne una.' S. Aug. In Psalm,

homo

Christus et Ecclesia,

Sed erunt, inquit, duo in

xviii. torn. iv. pp. S5, 86.

RELATION OF

48

the Head, and the

HOLY GHOST

TIIE

Head

in the body.'

Jesus Christ often speaks Himself

own Person, which

'Our Lord

that

is,

our Head oftentimes

is

person of His body, which

we

are,

in

His

in the

and His Church

but so that the words are heard as from the mouth

of one man, that we

may

understand the Head and

the body to consist by an integral unity, and never

to be put asunder, after the

mony
flesh."

of which
'

it

said

is

manner of that matri-

"two

be in one

shall

The following words of S. Gregory Nazianzen teach

.But now the Holy
expressly the same doctrine
'

given more perfectly, for He is no longer

present by His operation as of old, but is present witli
us, so to speak, and converses with us in a substantial

Ghost

is

manner.

For

it

was

fitting that, as the

Son had

conversed with us in a body, the Spirit also should

Fit ergo tamquam ex duolius una qusedam persona, ex capite et
corpore, ex sponso ex sponsa. ... Si duo in carne una, cur non duo
in voce una ?
Loquitur ergo Christus, quia in Christo loquitur
1

'

Ecclosia, et in Ecelesia loquitur Christus

et corpus in eapite,

efc

Aug. In Psalm. xxx. torn. iv. p. 147.

2
Dominum nostrum Jcsum Christum plerumquc loqui ex se,
id est, ex persona sua, quod est caput nostrum plerumque ex
persona corporis sui, quod sumusnos et Ecelesia ejus sed ita quasi
ex unius hominis ore sonare verba, ut intelligamus caput ct corpus
caput in corpore.'

S.

'

in imitate integritatis consistere, nee separariab invicem tamquam

S. Aug.
est, Erunt duo in carne una.'
:

conjugium illud, de quo dictum

In Psalm, xl. torn. iv. p. 314.

TO THE CHURCH.

49

come among us in a bodily manner and when Christ

had returned to His own place, He should descend
to us.'

S. Cyril of
is this

as S.

grace

Alexandria likewise says

It is that

'

Paul

says.'

'
:

What

then

pouring forth of the Spirit,

Therefore the Holy Ghost works

and uniting us
joins us to Himself and makes

in us by Himself, truly sanctifying us

to Himself, while

He

us partakers of the Divine nature.'

1

Tb 8e vvv, TeXicLrepov, ovk

Sccs 8e, ais

av

6i7ro(

tis,

sti ivepyeiairapbv, ws
Trporepov, obtnaiavyyiv6p.iv6v ts kcu (Tvfj.vokiTfv6/j.ivov. ^wpciri

yap, Tlov awp-ariKoos rjp.1v b^i\rjaavTos, koX avrb (pavrjvai (ra>p.artKc!is'

Kal XpiffTOV Trpbs kavTbv iirave\66vTos, iicelpo wpbs T^/xas Ka.Tt\duv.
S.

Greg. Nazian. Orat.

2

Tij ouv apa

reus

Kapfiiais

f]

xli.

in Pentecost, torn.

r\p.oiv

>

yivop.ivr\,

i.

p. 740.

tov ayiov Tlvivp.a.Tos x^C'? V iv

Kara t^v tov TlavXov (pwuijv

X"P' y ^ t6.vtws

rj

avrovpybv &pa rb Tlvevfia eV rip.1v, ahridws ayidov Kal kvovv rjp.as

eavrqi Sia rrjs irpbs avrb ovvatyetas deias re (pvaeccs anoTeAovv
kolvwvovs.

S.

Cyril. Alex. Thesaurus de Trin. Assertio xxxiv. torn.

v. p. 352.

'Sic igitur, cum fidelibus ac justis impertiri communicarique

Spiritus Sanctus legitur, non ipsamet illius persona tribui, sed ejus
efficientia videri potest
idque communis fere sensus habet eorum,
Quos qui
qui in Patrum Teterum lectione minus exercitati sunt.
;

attente pervestigare voluerit, intelliget occultum

quemdam

et inusi-

tatum missionis communicationisque modum apudilloscelebrari, quo

Spiritus
latur;

ille

divinus in justorum sese aniraos insinuans, cum illis

copuesse, hoc est qualitate

eumque non accidentarium, ut itadicam,

duntaxat

ilia coslesti

ac divina

perfici,

quam in pectora nostra

idem coelestium donorum largitor ac procreator

diffundit

Spiritus, sed ovo-tdSr),

hoc est substantialem, ita ut substantia ipsa Spiritus Sancti nobiscum

jungitur, nosque sanctos, ac justos, ac Dei deuique Filios efficiat. Ac
nonnullos etiam antiquorum illorum dicentes audiot, tautum istud

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

50

Gregory the Great, summing up the doctrine of

-

S.
S.

The holy universal

one body, constituted under Christ Jesus

Augustine, writes as follows

Church
its

is

Head.

Therefore

Church, both that which

'

Christ,

is

still

with His whole

on earth and that

which now reigns with Him in heaven, is one Person ;

and as the soul is one which quickens the various

members

of the body, so the one

Holy Spirit quickens

and illuminates the whole Church. For as Christ,

who

is

the

Head

Holy Ghost,
is filled

of the Church, was conceived of the

so the

Holy Church, which

by the same Spirit that

confirmed by His power that

bond of one faith and charity.

" from
says,

and

fitly

body."

whom

it

is

His body,

have

it

life, is
may
may subsist in the

Therefore the Apostle

the whole body being compacted

joined together maketh increase

This

of the

that body out of which the Spirit

is

wherefore the blessed Augustine

quickeneth not
" If thou would st live of the
Spirit of Christ,
says,
;

Of this Spirit the

be in the Body of Christ."
heretic does not live, nor the schismatic, nor the
ramque stupendum Dei benefieium tunc primum hoiuinibus esse coueessum, postquam Dei Filius homo factus ad usum hominum salutemque descendit, ut fructus iste sit adventus, ac meritorum, el sanguinis
lioniinibus nondum attributus;
ipsius, veteris Testamcnti justis
quibus

"nondum

glorificatus," ut

erat Spiritua

datus, quia Jesus

Evaugeliata Joannes

lib. viii. cap. iv. p.

128.

scribit,'

nondum
De

Petavins,

fuerat
Trin.

TO THE CHURCH.

51

excommunicated, for they are not of the body ; but

the Church hath a Spirit that giveth life, because it
inheres inseparably

"

written,

He

with Him."

'

to

Christ its

is

for it is

one

spirit

In this passage

S.

Gregory traces out

1.

The Head

2.

The body;
The mystical personality

3.

Head:

that adhereth to the Lord

Unum quippe corpus est tota sancta universalis Ecclesia, sub

Christo Jesu, suo videlicet capite, constituta. Unde ait Apostolus
1

'

Ipse est caput corporis Ecclesice, qui est principium, primogenitus ex

mortuis. Ipsa est enim quae per Prophetam jucundatur et dicit ;

Nunc exaltavit caput meum super inimicos meos. Pater enim Filium,
qui est caput Ecclesiae, s\xper inimicos ejus exaltavit, cum, destructo
mortis imperio, in suae ilium majestatis sequalitate constituit cui
et dixit
Sede a dextris meis, donee ponam inimicos tuos scabellum
:

Christus itaque cum tota sua Ecclesia, sive qute

in terris, sive quae cum eo jam regnat in ccelis, una
Et sicut est una anima quae diversa corporis membra

pedum tuormn.

adhuc versatur
persona

est.

vivificat, ita

totam simul Ecclesiam unus Spiritus Sanctus vegetat

Sicut namque Christus, qui est caput Ecclesise, de

Spiritu Sancto conceptus est: sic sancta Ecclesia, quae corpus ejus
est, eodem Spiritu Sancto repletur ut vivat
ejus virtute firmatur,
et illustrat.

ut

in

unius

et

fidei

cavitatis

compage

subsistat.

Unde

dicit

Apostolus ex quo totum corpus per nexus et conjwnctwn.es subministratum et construction crescit in augmentum Dei. Istud est corpus,
:

Unde

extra quod non vivificat spiritus.

Si vis vivere de spiritu Christi,

spiritu

dicit beatus

esto in corpore

Augustimis
De hoe

Christi.

non vivit haereticus, non vivit schismaticus, non vivit excomnon enim sunt de corpore. Ecclesia autem spiritum

municatus

vivilicantem habet, quia capiti suo Christo inseparabiliter adhaeret

Scriptum est enim Qui adhaeret Domino units spiritus est cum eo'

S.

Greg. Expos, in Psal.

v.

Pcenit. torn.

e 2

iii.

p.

511.

RELATION OF THE HOLT GIIOST

52

The conception
The intrinsic and

4.

5.

extrinsic unity of the Church,

and the grace of sanctity and

given by the Church alone.

which

life,

is

Hitherto I have refrained from doing more than

trace out the

meaning of the passages of Scripture

and of the Fathers above

draw

I will

cited.

now go on

to

certain conclusions from them.

And, first, it is evident that the present dispensation, under which we are, is the dispensation of the
Spirit, or of the

To Him

Third Person of the Holy Trinity.

economy, has been committed

in the Divine

applying the redemption of the Son to

the souls of men, by the vocation, justification, and
the

office of

salvation of the elect.

We are,

therefore,

under the

personal guidance of the Third Person as truly as

the Apostles were under the guidance of the Second.

The presence

of the Eternal Son, by incarnation, was

the centre of their unity

Spirit,

the presence of the Eternal

by the incorporation of the mystical body,

is

the centre of unity to us.

Again,

it is

evident that this dispensation of the

Spirit, since the incarnation of the Son,

the day of Pentecost, differs in

many

characteristic ways from His presence

the

and from

critical

and

and

office in

world before the advent of Jesus Christ.

It

TO THE CHURCH.
differs

53

not only in exuberance of gifts and graces,

its miraculous manifestations, nor
again

nor only in

in its universality, as if

what was given before in

measure was given afterwards in

deeper way, that

sumed, and
I.

And,

is,

in the

first,

fulness,

in the office which

manner

but in a

He

has as-

of His presence.

the Holy Ghost came before into the

world by His universal operations in all mankind,

but now He comes through the Incarnate Son by a

and personal presence.

As the Son of God has both an eternal generation
and a temporal mission, that is, His eternal generaspecial

tion from the Father,

incarnation,

and His temporal advent by

an

so the Spirit of Grod has likewise

eternal procession

and a temporal mission from the

The eternal mission is the

Father and the Son.

Passive Spiration, whereby the Person and relations

of the Holy Ghost to the Father and to the Son are
eternally constituted.
2

And

this

by the Fathers and

The
Theologians
temporal mission of the Holy Ghost began from the
day of Pentecost, when He came to us through the
is

called His eternal procession.

Incarnate Son.

S.

Augustine teaches that this was

signified by the material breath with which Jesus

1

Petav.

Petav.

Be

Be

Trinitate, lib. viii. cap. 2.

Trinitate, lib. vii. cap. 18, sec. 5, 6.

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

54

breathed,

upon His Apostles, when He

ye the Holy Ghost.'

He

till

It

He had

of the gift which

reserved

'

said,

Receive

was the symbol and pledge

promised to them. It was

should be glorified.

Then, on His

Ascension to the right hand of God, the Holy Ghost

was sent from the Father and the Son incarnate.
S.

the day of Pentecost the Dies

calls

Augustine

The

Natalis or Nativity of the Holy Ghost.

God had wrought

Spirit of

before throughout the whole race

descended from the

He came now bv

Adam.

first

special and personal mission to work in the children

of the second
for himself

Adam.

and

Holy Ghost

The first Adam by sin

forfeited

and grace of the

has restored to His

for us the presence

the second

Adam

children the presence and the grace which had been

lost

but with this difference

the

first

Adam

was

man, the second Adam

The first, though

is God.
the
of
was
sinless,
second, being
capable
sinning
God, could not sin. The Holy Ghost proceeds from
;

the second

new

to us

who

are born again in the

creation of God.

What
S.

Adam

has

here

Thomas

S.

Be Gen. ad

August.

been

as follows

stated

On

Lit. torn.

is

expressed

by

the question whether

iii.

p.

260.

Be

Trin. lib. iv.

torn. viii. p. 829.

2

'

Responded dicendum quod

in his

quae important originem

TO THE CHURCJH.

55

mission be eternal or temporal only, he says,

'

It is

be said that in those things which imply the

to

divinarum personarum, est qusedam differentia attendenda. Quaedam enim in sua signification important solum habitudinem ad
principium, ut processio et exitus.

Qusedam vero cum habitudine

ad principium determinant processionis terminum. Quorum qusedam

nam
determiuant terminum seternum sicut generatio et spiratio
generatio est processio divinse personce in naturam divinam, et
spiratio passive accepta importat processionem amoris subsistentis.
Qupedam vero cum habitudine ad principium important terminum
temporalem, sicut missio et datio. Mittitur enim aliquid ad hoc ut
Personam autem
sit in aliquo, et datur ad hoc quod habeatur.
divinam haberi ab aliqua creatura, vel esse novo modo existendi in
;

Unde missio et datio in divinis dicuntur

ea, est quoddam temporale.
temporaliter tantum generatio autem et spiratio solum ab seterno
et
processio autem et exitus dicuntur in divinis et seternaliter,
;

nam Filius ab seterno processit, ut sit Deus

autem, ut etiam sit homo secundum missionem
vel etiam ut sit in homine secundum invisibilem

temporaliter

temporaliter
visibilem,

missionem.

Facta autem est missio visibilis ad Christum in baptismo quidem

sub specie columbse, quod est animal fecundum, ad ostendendiim in
Christo auctoritatem donandi gratiam per spiritualem regeneraIn transfiguratione vero sub specie nubis
tionem
Ad
lueidse, ad ostendendum exuberantiam doctrina?
apostolos autem sub specie flatus, ad ostendendam potestatem
ministerii in dispensatione sacramentorum unde dictum est eis,
Quorum remiscritis peccata, remittuntur eis. Sed sub Unguis ignois,
'

ad ostendendum officium doctrinse unde dicitur, quod cceperunt loqui

Ad patres autem veteris Testamenti missio visibilis
variis Unguis.
debuit perfici missio
Spiritus Sancti fieri non debuit quia prius
:

visibilis Filii

Spiritus Sancti, cum Spiritus Sanctus manifestet

Fuerunt autem factse visibiles
Filius Patrem.

quam

Filium, sicut
apparitiones divinarum personarum patribus veteris Testamenti ;
dici non possunt, quia non fuerunt
quae quidem missiones visibiles
factse (secundum Augustinum, lib. 2, de Trin. cap. 17, circa fin.) ad

designandum inhabitationem

di-\inse

personaj per gratiam, sed ad

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

56

origin

of

Divine Persons a distinction

For some thiugs, by tbeir

observed.

be

to

is

signification,

imply only tbe relation to tbeir principle, as procesand some, together witb tbe
sion and going forth
;

relation to tbeir principle, determine tbe

Of

which they proceed.

eternal end, as generation

ration

end

for

these some determine the

and spiration

for gene-

the procession of a Divine Person in the

is

Divine Nature, and spiration, taken passively, imthe nature

plies tbe procession of love subsisting (in

Other things witb the relation to their

and
principle imply the temporal end, as mission
this end that it may
gift ; for a thing is sent for
of God).

exist in another,

be possessed.

and given to

But

this

end that

possessed by any creature, or should be in

new mode

of

it

may

that a Divine Person should be

existence,

is

it

by a

something temporal.

Therefore mission and gift in things divine are predicated in a temporal sense alone

but generation and

spiration are predicated only of eternity.

But proces-

and going fortb are predicated in things divine

both eternally and temporally. From eternity He prosion

God, but temporally as Man also by a visible

mission and also that He may be in man by a mission

rpfids as

aliquid aliud manifestandum.'

qurrst. xliii. art. 2, 7-

S.

Thomae Sum.

Theol.

prima pars,

TO THE CHURCH.
which

is invisible.'

And

57

further, he adds, speaking

'
Holy Ghost, But the visible
to Christ in His baptism under

of the mission of the

mission was fulfilled

the form of a dove

which

is

a fruitful creature

to

manifest the authority of bestowing grace by spiritual

But in the
in Christ.
regeneration which was
of a shining cloud,
form
the
under
transfiguration,
.

to manifest the exuberance

of His teaching.

But to the Apostles, under the form of breath,

to manifest the power of the ministry in the dis-

wherefore He said to them,

" Whosesoever sins
you forgive they are forgiven
in
But
unto them."
tongues of fire to manifest the
pensation of sacraments

office of teaching,

wherefore

it is

to speak with various tongues."

of the Old Testament

it

written,
s

was not

But

"They began

to the Fathers

fitting that the

mis-

sion of the Holy Ghost should be visibly fulfilled, because it was fitting that the visible mission of the Son

should

first

be

fulfilled before that of the

Holy Ghost,

forasmuch as the Holy Ghost manifests the Son, as

the Son manifests the Father.
of Divine Persons were

But visible apparitions

made to the Fathers

of the Old

Testament, which, however, cannot be called visible

missions, because they were not made, as S. Augus-

Divi Thomse Sum. Theol. prima pars, qusest.

xliii. artic. 2.

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

58

tine says, to designate the inhabitation of a Divine

Person by grace, but to manifest something

else.'

After profusely expounding these articles of S.

Thomas, Suarez adds the following words, which are

very

much

may

be noted between the mission of the

and

to our purpose

this mission of the Spirit

Word

And

here a distinction

Word

that the mission

without merit given by the charity of

" God
alone, according to the words of S. John,

of the

is

God

He

gave His only-begotten

but the mission of the Holy Ghost is given

so loved the world, that

"

Son

l
:

through the merits of the Word, and therefore the

Spirit was not given until Jesus was glorified. Which
Christ Himself also declared, saying, " I will pray the
Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete."
'

II.

The second

the Holy Ghost

characteristic difference

came

is,

to create the mystical

'

that

body of

Christ.

Until the day of Pentecost the mystical body was

Unde notari potest discrimen inter missionem Verbi, et banc
missionem Spiritus (idemquc fere est de aliis), quod missio Verbi
absque merito sola Dei charitate facta est, juxta illud Joann. 3 Sic
Bens dilexit mitndum, ut Filittm mum unigenitum daret missio
autem Spiritus Sancti ex merito Verbi facta est ideo cnim non fuit
1

Quod etiam sitrnifiSpiritus datus, donee Jesus fuit glorificatus.

cavit ipse Christus d icons
Ego rogaho Patrem, et alium Paraclctum
dahit vobis.
26.

Suarez, in

"prim. part.

S. Thorn, lib.

xii.

cap. 6, sect.

TO THE CHUECIL

59

There could be no body till there was

There was no Head until the Son was

not complete.
a Head.

incarnate

and, even

when

incarnate, the completion

of the body was deferred until the

fied

that

is,

until

Head was

glori-

the Incarnate Son had fulfilled

His whole redeeming office in life, death, resurrection,

and ascension, returning to enthrone the Humanity
with which His eternal Person was invested, at the
right

Then, when the Head

hand of the Father.

in His

supreme majesty over angels

and men, the creation and organisation of the body
was completed.

was exalted

All that had gone before was but type and shadow.

and bound together

by their Priesthood, and by the ceremonies and ritual
of the Tabernacle and the Temple, had but a shadow

The people

of Israel, organised

'

of things

to come, but the

body

is

Christ's.'

It

was a Church after the measures and proportions

But it had no Incarof the times which then were.
nate Head, no Divine Person proceeding from that

Head

to inhabit and to guide

it.

Its

sacraments

were shadows, working ex opere operantis, by the

faith of the receiver, not by the divine virtue which

and priesthood
in relation to the order which then was, but

went out from them.

were real

Its sacrifices

Col.

ii.

17.

RELATION OF

GO

TIIE

HOLY GHOST

only shadows of the sacrifice and priesthood of the

Incarnate Son, and of His Church which is now.
1

What

has here been affirmed

the following propositions

That

(1.)

fountain of

Head

Christ, as

may

be proved by

of the Church,

is

the

His mystical body. ' In

Him it hath well-pleased the Father that all fulness
should dwell.' 2 He hath made Him Head over all
all

sanctity to

the Church, which

Him who
'

says

man

is

is filled all

His body, and the fulness of

3
all.'
S. Gregory the Great

in

For the Mediator between God and men, the

Christ Jesus, has present always and in

Him who

also proceeds

fulness.

Because in them

all

things

from Himself by substance,

the
same
In the saints who declare
namely,
Spirit.
Him He abides, but in the Mediator He abides in
special purpose, but in

and
1

for all things.'

He abides by grace for a

Him He abides by substance

S.

Augustine says

*
:

Is there

am aware

that Tournelly appears to be contrary to this statebut not only the stream of theologians is against him, but his
argument, though perhaps not his words, may be shown to agree in
substance with what is stated in the text. De Ecclcsia, qusest. i.
I

ment

art. 3.
2

Col.

i. 19.
Eph. i. 22, 23.
Mediator autem Dei ethominum.Jhomo Christ us Jesus, in cunctis
enm et semper et continue habet present cm quia et ex illo idem
Recti ergo et cum in Sanctis
Spiritus per Bubstantiam profertur.

'

prsedicatoribus maneat, in Mediatore singulariter manere perhibetur :

quia in istis per gratiara manet ad aliquid, in illo autem per sub-

TO THE CnURCII.

61

Head and

then any other difference between that

excellence f any

member

the

beside, that all the fulness

of the Divinity dwells in that body as in a temple

Plainly there

Because, by a special assumption

is.

of that Humanity, one Person with the

stituted.

Word

is

con-

That assumption then was singular, and

common

has nothing

wisdom and

with any

hoblness they

men by

whatsoever

be sanctified.'

may

And

one thing to be made wise by

the wisdom of God, and another to bear the Person'

again he says

It is

wisdom.

ality of God's

For though the nature of the

body of the Church be the same, who does not understand that there is a great distance between the Head

and the members

(2.)

That the

'

sanctification of the

stantiam manet ad cuncta.'

S.

Greg. Moral,

lib.

Church

ii.

is ef-

cap. ult. torn.

i.

p. 73.

'An etiam' prater hoc, quod tamquam in templo in illo corpore

habitat omnis plenitude divinitatis, est aliud quod intersit inter
Est plane, quod
illud caput et cujuslibet membri excellentiam ?
1

singulari

quadam susceptione hominis

illius

una facta

est

persona

susceptio, nee cum

he-minibus aliquibus Sanctis, quantalibet sapientia et sanctitate
S. Aug.
Ep.
prcestantibus, ullo modo potest esse communis.'

cum

Verbo.

Singularis

est

ergo

ilia

clxxxvii. 40, torn.

2

'

ii.

p. 691.

Aliud est enim sapientem tantum

fieri per Sapientiam Dei, et

Quanms enim
Sapientise Dei.
eadem natura sit corporis Ecclesise, multum distare inter caput et
membra cetera quis non intelligat ?
S. Aug. Be Agone Christiano.

aliud ipsam

Personam sustinere

cap. 22, torn,

vi, p.

'

254.

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

G2

Holy Ghost. Forasmuch as

it is
built together into an habitation of God in the
l -*
and the charity of God is poured out in
Spirit
fected

by the

gift of the

'

'

our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given unto us.' 2

This proposition needs no further proof than the
is
gathered from the world by
and
that
into
every soul rightly baptized
baptism,
the graces of Faith, Hope, and Charity are infused,

fact,

that the Church

together with the seven gifts, and a substantial union

of the Holy Ghost with the soul

is

The

constituted.

sanctification therefore of souls is effected, not only

by the effusion of created graces, but also by the personal indwelling of the Sanctifier, and by their union
with the uncreated sanctity of the Spirit of God.
'
Know you not that you are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ?
For
.

the temple of
S.

God

Athanasius says

He

because

is

which [temple) you are.' 3

abide in God, and He in us,

holy,
'

We

But

hath given us of His Spirit.

the presence of the Spirit

who

is

in us

partakers of the Divine Nature, he

who

is

we

are

if

by

made

beside himself

done by a creature, and not

For the same cause He is in

shall say that this is

by the Spirit of God.

men, and they in whom
1

Eph.

ii,

He

is

are deified.

Rom.

22.
*

Cor.

iii.

16. 17.

v. 5.

But He

TO THE CHURCH.

who

beyond

deifies,
l

of G-od.'

Again,

all

63

doubt, His nature

S. Cyril says

'

is

Christ

the nature

formed

is

Holy Ghost imparting to us a kind of

Divine form by sanctification and justification.' 2

in us by the

That the Holy Ghost dwells personally and

substantially in the mystical body, which is the in(3.)

corporation of those

from the
(4.)

last

who

are sanctified.

and needs no further

This follows

proof.

That the members of the mystical body who

are sanctified, partake not only of the created

graces,
but of a substantial union with the Holy Ghost. This

has been already proved above.

(5.)

That

this substantial union of the

Holy Ghost

with the mystical body, though analogous to the

forasmuch as
hypostatic union, is not hypostatic
;

human

the

personality of the

members of Christ

subsists in this substantial union.

I forbear to add

more

to this second distinction

but I would refer those who desire to see

1

Et

tie

Haivoir' av
Qeov.

Sib.

iroie?,

still

it

fully

rov Xlvevixaros fierovaia yiyo/xeda Koivuivol Oeias

cpvaeus\eyuv rb Tlvev/jia ryjs ktktttjs cpvaews, Kal
rrjs rov
rovro yap Kal iy ols yiverai, ovroi Beonoiovvrai el Se 8eo-

rrj

tis

'

ovk afMpifioAov

'6ri

rj

rovrov (pvais Oeov iari. S. Athan.

Ep.

I.

ad Scra/pionem,

cap. 24, torn. ii. p. 672.

2
MopQovrai ye (x))v ev rifuv 6 Xpiarbs, evievros
piaros Qeiav riva p.6p(pw(nv, Si' ayiaanov Kal

ti/x7v

rod ayiov

SlKaioo-<jvr)s.

Alex. In Isaiam,
8

Petav.

Be

lib. iv. orat. 2, torn.

ii.

p. 591.

Trinitate, lib. viii, cap. 7, 12.

S.

irvei-

Cyril.

RELATION OF TEE HOLY GIIOST

64

treated, to the tenth chapter of the Sixth Book,

De

Incarndtione Verbi, in the Theologia Dogmatica of

Thomassinus. We may therefore proceed to another
distinction.
III. Thirdly, a further characteristic difference is

constituted by the

union between the

indissoluble

Holy Ghost and the mystical

Before the

body.

Incarnation, the Holy Spirit wrought in the souls

of

men one by

one, illuminating, converting, sanc-

But the union

tifying, and perfecting the elect.
between His presence and the soul was conditional on
the correspondence and fidelity of the individual.

was a dissoluble union, and

in the multitudes

It

who fell

from grace it was actually dissolved. In the faithful, as

in Enoch and in Daniel, that union was sustained to
In the unfaithful,

the end.

mon,

after their great graces, it

also are

If

we

solve

our

and in Solo-

was dissolved.

We

under the same law of individual probation.

persevere in faith, hope, charity, and contri-

tion, the

Holy

as in Saul

union between us and the presence of the

Spirit in us remains firm.

it.

we

If

It is therefore conditional,

finite, frail,

and unstable

will.

fail,

we

dis-

depending upon

And

yet such

is

the strange and superficial view of those who have

been deprived of the perfect light of faith by the
great

spiritual

anarchy of the

last

three hundred

TO THE CHURCH.

Having

years.

lost

65

the conception of the Church as

from a multitude of individuals told by number, they suppose the union of the Holy Spirit with

distinct

the Church to be also conditional and dissoluble.

It

is

manifest, however, that the union of the

Ghost with the Chinch

is

Holy

not conditional, but absolute,

depending upon no finite will, but upon the Divine

will alone, and therefore indissoluble to all
eternity.

For

it is

constituted (1) by the union of the Holy

Ghost with the Head of the Church, not only as Grod

but as Man, and in both these relations this union is
is constituted further
(2) by His union
with the mystical body, which, as a body, is impe-

indissoluble. It

rishable,

though individuals in it may perish. There

come a time when that body will cease to

will never
be,

and therefore there

will never

come a time when

the Holy Grhost will cease to be united to

mystical body will exist to

number
first,

of the blessed.

of the

Head with

all

it.

The

eternity in the perfect

These Divine unions, namely,

members

the

members with each other

next, of the

and, lastly, of the Holy

Grhost with the body, will be likewise eternal.
And
;

in the state of glory the

perfect personal identity

and perfect mutual recognition of the saints in all

their orders will perpetuate that which here constitutes

the symmetry and perfection of the Church

F

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

66

But that which

in time

body

the

shall be eternal is indissoluble also

union, that

as a whole.

of the Spirit with the

is,

Individuals

multitudes have fallen

cular churches

from

its

remains,

And

may

fall

may

provinces,
it

from

its

as

it

nations, parti-

but the body

unity undivided,

fall

still

indefectible.

life

that because the line of the faithful

never

is

always woven link

within link, and wound together in the mysterious

broken

the chain of the elect

course and onward

movement

is

of truth and grace in

the hearts and wills of the regenerate.

faith,

hope, and charity

is

threefold cord cannot be broken,

who

the souls of the elect,

dissolved.

Divine

upon earth
l

Spirit.'

therefore of the Spirit with the

is

The union

body can never be

act,

analogous to the

hypostatic union, whereby the two natures

and man

of.

The

are builded together into

an habitation of God in the

It

line

and the ever-blessed

Trinity always inhabits His tabernacle

'

The

never dissolved.

are eternally united in one Person.

of

God

So the

mystical body, the head and the members, constitute

and the Holy Ghost inhabiting

that body, and diffusing His created grace throughout
it, animates it as the soul quickens the body of a man.

one mystical person

From

this flow

many
1

truths.

Eph.

ii.

22.

First, the

Church

is

TO THE CHURCH.

67

not an individual, but a mystical person, and

all its

endowments are derived from the Divine Person of

its

Head, and the Divine Person who

in the Incarnation there

is

is its

Life.

As

a communication of the

Divine perfections to the humanity, so in the Church

the perfections of the Holy Spirit become the endow-

ments of the body.

is

God

one

It is imperishable, because

He

indivisibly one, because

He

holy, because

infallible

is

is

He

numerically

the fountain of holiness

both in believing and in teaching, because

His illumination and His voice are immutable, and

therefore,

being not an individual depending upon

human will, but a body depending

the fidelity of a

only on the Divine will,

but

is itself

it is

not on trial or probation,

the instrument of probation to mankind.

It cannot be affected

by the frailty or

sins of the

human

will, any more than the brightness of the firmament by

the dimness or the loss of human sight. It can no more

be tainted by

human

sin than the holy sacraments,

which are always immutably pure and divine, though

all who come to them be impure and faithless. What
the Church was in the beginning
shall

be in

all

it is

the plenitude of

its

now, and ever

divine endow-

ments, because the union between the body and the

Spirit is indissoluble,

Spirit in the

body

and

all

the operations of the

are perpetual and absolute.

F 2

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

08

The multitude and fellowship of the just who,

from Abel to the Incarnation, had lived and died in
faith and union with Grod, constituted the soul of a
body which should be
stitute the body,

hereafter.

They did not con-

but they were waiting

for it.

They

did not constitute the Church, which signifies not

only the election but the aggregation of the servants

God

of

not only the calling out, but the calling

together into one

Some

those

all

who

Him.

are united to

of the Fathers do indeed speak of

them

as the

Church, because they were to the then world what

the Church is now to the world of to-day.
They
belong also to the Church, though it did not then
exist, just as the Lamb was slain from the foundation
of the world, though the sacrifice on
four thousand years deferred.

the beginning given

Blood, though

as yet it

mystical body had

was not created.

the

kingdom

Incarnate
over

all

Calvary

was

All grace was from

through the Most Precious

had not been shed. So the

members, though as yet it

They were admitted to it when
its

of heaven was opened to

Word was

them and the

exalted to His glory as

Head

things to the Church.

As then

till

the Incarnation there was no Incarnate

day of Pentecost there was no comThe members were not united to

plete organisation.

Head,

so till the

TO THE CHURCH.

69

the Head, nor to each other, nor as a

body to the Holy
But it is these three Divine unions which
Ghost.
constitute the organisation of the mystical
body. And
these three unions were constituted by the mission

Holy Ghost from the Incarnate Son, and by

in the members of

of the

His descent and inhabitation

Christ.

IV. The fourth difference

is

that whereas the

Holy

G-host wrought invisibly before the Incarnation,

He

has by His temporal mission manifested His presence

and His operations by the Visible Church of Jesus

Christ.
1.

The Church

is

the evidence of His presence

among men. Before the Incarnation He w rought unseen, and by no revealed law of His operations. Now

He

has assumed the mystical body as the visible

incorporation of His presence, and the revealed

channel of His grace.

The

Visible

creation so purely divine, and

its

Church

is

endowments are

so visibly supernatural, that it can be referred to

no

cause or origin below God.

(1)

The Church

witnesses to the presence of a

Divine Person by its supernatural unity. The first

formation of its unity by the assimilation of the intellects

and

wills of

and of nations,

men who had never agreed before,

races,

and kingdoms perpetually anta-

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

70

and perpetually contending about everything

but the faith, is a work self-evident ly divine.
gonist,

The wonderful world-wide coherence

resisting all

the solvents of

the efforts of

through

all

human

of the

subtlety and all

antagonisms and through

S.

is

How

did

'What did the advent

Holy Ghost accomplish

?

ages un-

all

evidence of a power higher

Augustine asks

us his presence

of this unity,

strength, and perpetuating itself

divided and indivisible,

than man.

human

He

How

did

manifest

He

teach

it ?

spoke with the tongues of all nations.

man spoke with the tongues of all nations.
all

They
One
The

unity of the Church is in the tongues of all nations.

Behold here the unity of the Catholic Church
diffused throughout the world is declared.'

'

Again
Wherefore as then (Pentecost) the tongues of all
nations showed the presence of the Holy Ghost in
:

'

one man,

now

so

nations shows

Him

the charity of the unity of

to be here.'

all

'Quid ipse advcntus Spiritus Sancti, quid cgit ? Pra?scntiam

suam unde docuit ? unde nionstravit? Linguis omnium gentium
l)cuti sunt omnes.
Loquebatur unus homo linguis omnium
1

gentium

iinitas Ecclesise in linguis

unitas Ecclesise catholics

Sermo in Die Pent.

ii.

omnium gentium.

commendatur totoorbe

Ecce

diffusse.'

et hie

S.

Aug.

torn. v. p. 1091.

2
Quamobrem sicut tunc indicabant adesse Spiritum Sanctum in
uno homine lingua? omnium gentium: sic eum nunc carilas indicat
S. Aug. Sermo in Die Pent, Hi. torn. t.
unitatis omnium gentium.'
'

p. 1094,

TO THE CHUHCH.

71

(2) Secondly, it witnesses for a supernatural pre-

sence by

its

imperishableness in the midst of

all

the

works of man, which are perpetually resolving themselves again into the dust out of which they were
taken.
(3) Thirdly, the Visible Church witnesses to the

presence of the Spirit of Truth by

in doctrine of faith,

And

its

these truths point to the presence of a

all

Divine Power and Person, by

whom

alone such gifts

could be communicated to men.

corporation

of the

manifestation
Spirit,'

know

is

body.

'

presence.

not only a fact,

The body
of the

is

is

in-

One body, one

We

but a revelation.
is

the

one because the Spirit is one.

Holy Ghost is the intrinsic reason
is

one and changeless,

and immutable.

visible

the Spirit because there

of the unity of the Church.

tion

The

Church therefore becomes the

of His

that there

The unity

immutability

and morals.

Because His illuminaits

intelligence

is

one

Because His charity never varies,

communion can never be

therefore the unity of its

suspended.

He

organises and unfolds the mystical

body, His own presence being the centre of its unity

and the principal of its cohesion. What the dove

was at Jordan, and the tongues of fire at Pentecost,

that the one visible Church is now the witness of
:

KELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

72

the mission, advent, and perpetual presence of the

Spirit of the Father and of the Son.
2.

It

And

is,

further, the instrument of

that, first,

His power.

by the perpetuity and diffusion of

the light of the Incarnation throughout the world

and throughout

all

time.

And

Next, by the perpetuity of sanctifying grace.

that by the perpetuity of the Seven Sacraments, which

initiate

and envelope the whole

spiritual life of

man

from birth to death, sanctifying the soul in all its

ages, and relations to God and to human life, and
organising the Church perpetually, multiplying

members by baptism, renewing the body

its

as it is

diminished by natural death, propagating by the

spiritual generation the line of its pastors,

to it a supernatural centre

ment

and

and giving

solidity in the sacra-

of the altar, which in the midst of the other

sacraments, that are transient, abides for ever, the

permanent presence of the Word made

tabernacle of God with men.
3.

flesh in

the

Thirdly, in virtue of the perpetual presence of

the Holy Ghost united indissolubly to the body of

Christ, not only the ordinary

and sacramental actions

of grace are perpetual, but also the extraordinary

operations and gifts of miracles, visions, and pro-

phecy abide always in the Church, not in

all

men,

TO THE CHURCH.
nor manifested at

all

73

times, but present always, dis-

tributed to His servants severally at His will, and for

known

His wisdom, sometimes revealed,

sometimes hidden from us.

the ends

4. Lastly,

to

the body of Christ

is

the organ of His

voice.

Our Lord has

me.'
all
'

'

Ye

'

said,

He

that heareth you heareth

shall be witnesses

unto me.'

Gro ye into

the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.'

He

How

that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.'

should these things be true, or rather

not these words be most illusory and

how should

false, if the

per-

petual, living voice of the Church in all ages were not

identified with the voice of Jesus Christ ?

tine asks, as

S. Auguswe have already seen, with the point and

power which is his own, If the body and the head,

Christ and the Church, be one flesh, how are they
not also one voice

non in voce

una,

To sum up,

'

'

Si in carne una,

quomodo

'

then, what has been said in the lan-

guage of theology.
1. First, from the indissoluble union of the Holy
Spirit with the Church flow the three properties of
Unity, Visibleness, and Perpetuity.

Unity

is

the intrinsic unity of intelligence, will,

1

Thess.

iv. 8.

RELATION OF THE HOLT GIIOST

74

and organisation, generated from within by the

unity of the Person and the operation of the Holy
Ghost.

The property of Unity

constitutional, but intrinsic

is

and

not extrinsic and

essential.

Next, the property of Visibleness

is

a necessary

consequence of the constitution of a body or a society of

men bound by

public laws of worship and

practice.

Lastly, Perpetuity

is

a necessary consequence of

the indissoluble union of the soul with the body, of

the Spirit with the Church.
2.

From

the same indissoluble union flow next

the endoivments of the Church

bility in life

and duration,

namely, Indefecti-

Infallibility in teaching,

and Authority in governing the flock of Jesus Christ.

These are effects springing from the same substantial union of the

Holy

Spirit with the Church,

and reside by an intrinsic necessity in the mystical

body.
3.

Lastly,

the four Notes

Unity, which

is

the

external manifestation of the intrinsic and divine

unity of which we have spoken. Unity, as a property,

is

the source and cause of unity as a note.

Next,

Sanctity, which also flows by a necessity from the

union of the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier, with the

mystical body, to which a twofold sanctity is im-

TO THE CHURCH.

75

namely, the created grace of sanctity which

resides in all the just ; and the substantial union
parted

of the just with the uncreated sanctity of the

Ghost.

not mere extension, but also identity in

all

and, lastly, Apostolicity, or conformity with

ginal

Holy

Thirdly, Catholicity, or universality, that

is,

places
its

ori-

the mission and institution of the Apostles.

These four notes strike the eye of the world, beBut the endowlie upon the surface.

cause they

ments and the properties are the ultimate motives

into which the faithful resolve their submission to
the

Church of God.

Church, in

Him who

natural gifts,

God

They
is

believe,

the fountain of

through the
all its

super-

the Holy Ghost always present,

the perpetual and Divine Teacher of the revelation

of God,

'

the Truth as

V. The

fifth

and

it is

in Jesus.'

last distinction I will

note between

the presence and manner of operation of the Holy

Ghost before the Incarnation and His own Temporal

Mission in the world

epoch of the Divine

and

is

this

whereas, before that

Economy, the Holy Spirit taught

sanctified individuals,

and spoke by the Prophets

by virtue of His light and power, but with an intermittent exercise of His visitations,

now He

is

present

personally and substantially in the body of Christ,

and both teaches and sanctifies, without intermission,

RELATION' OF THE HOLY GHOST

76

with a perpetual divine voice and a perpetual sanctifying power

words, the divine action of

or, in other

is permanent, and pervades the

world as far as the Church is diffused, and pervades
all ages, the present as fully as the past, to-day as

the day of Pentecost

fully as in the

beginning

or,

again in other words,

both theological and conventional, the living Church

in every age is the sole divine channel of the revelation of Grod, and the infallible witness

and teacher

of the truths therein revealed.

Before I enter further

into the exposition and

proof of this proposition, I will at once point out

its

bearing upon what

the test whereby

In the

to

is

last analysis there

such rules

called the rule of Faith,

know what we

namely

i.e.

are to believe.

can be conceived only three

judge and teacher,

both of doctrines and of their interpretation, guided
by the assistance of the same Person who gave the
1.

First, the voice of a living

original

Holy

and inspired

revelation,

the writers

Scripture, or, in other words, the

Spirit from

whom

of

same Holy

in the beginning both the Faith

and the Scriptures were derived, perpetually preserving the same, and declaring them through the
Church as His organ
2.

Secondly,

the

Scripture,

interpreted

by the

TO THE CHURCH.

77

reason of individuals in dependence on their natural

and supernatural light

3.

or,

Scripture and antiquity, interpreted

Thirdly,

both by individuals, and

local

by

or

particular

Churches appealing to the faith of the first centuries

and to the councils held before the division of the
East and West.

Now,

it will

be observed, that these three proposi-

tions resolve themselves into

so

much

two

They do not

only.

enunciate three rules, as two judges proceed-

ing by two distinct processes. The first is the living

Church proceeding by the perpetual presence and
assistance of the Spirit of Grod in the custody

and

declaration of the original revelation.

The two
individual
alone, or

last are resolvable into

reason

proceeding

one

either

by Scripture and antiquity.

The matter

identical processes.

that

is,

the

by

Scripture

But

these are

differs in its

nature

and extent, the process is one and the same.

There can be ultimately no intermediate between
the Divine
of

its

itself

There

own

mind declaring
creation, or the

itself

through an organ

human mind judging

for

upon the evidence and contents of revelation.

is

or there

is

not a perpetual Divine Teacher

in the midst of us.

The human reason must be

either the disciple or the critic of revelation.

RELATION OP THE HOLY GHOST

78

I shall dismiss at once the

Now,

stitutes the individual as the

Scripture and antiquity.

which con-

rule

judge of Scripture, or of
even

It is already rejected

by many Protestants. They who hold it in either form

either pious persons, who make
are of two classes
:

a conscience of not reasoning about the grounds of

their faith, or such as are

still

as

simply entangled in a circle which

many were once

is

until the divine fact of the presence

never discovered

and

office

Holy Ghost in the mystical body becomes

of the

intelligible

to them.

The only form

now

of the question I will

There

notice

is

some who appeal from the

voice of the living Church to antiquity
professing to
believe that while the Church was united it was
as follows

are

infallible

that

when

it

became divided

it

ceased to

speak infallibly and that the only certain rule of

faith is to believe that which the Church held and
;

taught while yet

lible.

it

was united and therefore

Such reasoners

fail

infal-

to observe, that since the

supposed division, and cessation of the infallible voice,

there remains no divine certainty as to what was

To

then infallibly taught.

affirm that this or that

doctrine was taught then where

to

beg the question.

first six

The

centuries that

is,

it is

infallible

now

disputed,

is

Church of the

before the division

was

TO THE CHURCH.
infallible to those

who

infallible to us.

It spoke to

79

lived in those ages, but

them

to us it

Its infallibility does not reach to us, for the

of the last twelve hundred years

and may therefore

fallible,

is

is

not

is silent.

Church

by the hypothesis

in delivering to us

err

what was taught before the division. And

tain that either the East or the West, as it

it
is

is

cer-

called,

err in this, for they contradict each other as to

must

the faith before the division.

protests

invest

I do not speak of the

them with an

no one can

because

of later separations,

which they not

infallibility

only disclaim for themselves, but deny anywhere to

exist.

this theory of

Now,

an

infallible

then and a Church divided and

undivided Church

fallible

now proceeds

on two assumptions, or rather contains in

errors.

primary
the

itself

two

denies the indivisible unity of

It

Church, and the perpetual voice of the Holy

And both

Grhost.

these errors are

resolvable

into

one and the same master error, the denial of the true

and indissoluble union between the Holy Grhost and

the Church of Jesus Christ.

From

this

one error

all

errors of these later ages flow.

The

Holy Ghost with the

two truths as immediate conse-

indissoluble union of the

Church
quences

carries these
:

first,

that the unity of the Church

is

abso-

RELATION OF THE HOLT GHOST

80

lute, numerical,

and

the unity

indivisible, like

of

nature in God, and of the personality in Jesus Christ

and secondly, that

its infallibility is
'

(1.)

S.Cyprian says,

And

Ecclesia.'

intrinsic

of the

that

perpetual.

Unus Deus, unus

Christus,

this extrinsic unity springs

i,

una

from the

from the presence and operations

Holy Ghost, by

whom

animated, and organised.

the body

One

is

inhabited,

principle of life can-

not animate two bodies, or energise in two organisations.

One mind and one

perfect

unity the

The unity of

and throughout
hope, and charity

faith,

common Teacher

one

discrepancies of belief

unity of

and holds in

whole multitude of the faithful

all ages,

throughout

the

will fuses

the world.

all

the

renders

unity of

impossible

all

and of worship, and renders

communion, not a constitutional law or an

external rule of discipline, but an intrinsic necessity

and an inseparable property and expression of the

internal and supernatural unity of the mystical
body under one Head and animated by one
It

is

manifest, therefore, that division

The unity
plurality.

Churches,

of the Church refuses to be

To
is

talk of

is

Spirit.

impossible.

numbered in

Eoman, Greek, and Anglican

to deny the Articles,

I believe in the

Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church,' and the

The re-

Divine relation constituted between them.

TO THE CHURCH.
lation is a Divine fact,

truth.

says,

its

enunciation

a Divine

is

with a wonderful precision and

kingdom divided against

itself

brought to desolation, for that reason the

king-

'

If

depth,
is

Bede

S.

and

81

every

of the Father, Son, and

dom

vided.'
(2.)

not di-

is

And

next, as the unity

Once

infallibility.
first,

Holy Ghost

in the

century

fifth,

infallible,

is

perpetual, so

always

infallible

is

the

in the

in the fifteenth, in the nineteenth

the Divine Teacher always present, and the

A truncated

organ of His voice always the same.

fallibility

is

To

impossible.

affirm that

it

in-

has been

suspended because of the sins of men, denies the perand even of His
petuity of the office of the Holy Ghost,
presence

for to

suppose

Him present but dormant,

open to the reproach of Elias

be suspended,
after the

is

to suppose

His

is

office to

to conceive of the Divine Teacher

And

manner of men.

further

this theory

denies altogether the true and divine character of the

of God, distinct from all
mystical body as a creation
them
all
not on probaindividuals, and superior to
:

tion, because not

on the Divine
1

'

Si

dependent on any human

will alone

autem omne regnum

will,

but

and, therefore, not subject to

in

seipsum divisum desolatur ergo

regnum non est divisum.' Horn.
;

Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti

Veil. Bed. in cap. xi. S. Luc.

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

82

human

infirmity, but impeccable,

of probation to the world.

and the instrument

All these truths are denied

in a mass by the assertion that the Church has been

divided, and has, therefore, been unable to teach, as

And

did before, with an infallible voice.

it

not these

many more, on which the

true constitution and endowments of the Church

truths only are denied, but

depend.

We will
I

now

return to the

fifth difference

of which

began to speak, namely, the perpetual plenitude of

the office and operations of the Holy Ghost

in

all

and through the Church, both as the Author

grace by ordinary and extraordinary super-

ages, in

of

all

natural operations, and as the Witness, Judge, and

Teacher of

all

truth in and by the Church, the organ

of His perpetual voice to mankind.

It

is,

I believe,

admitted by all that the sacramental

and sanctifying graces of the Holy Spirit continue to

this day as they were in the beginning
or, in other
words, that the office of the Holy Ghost as the Sanc;

tifier is

How

perpetual in
is

it

all its fulness.

that anyone can

fail

the condition of our sanctification

to perceive that
is

Truth, and that

the perpetuity of the office of the Sanctifier presupposes the perpetuity of the office of the Illuminator

These two prerogatives of the Holy Ghost are coordi-

TO THE CHUECH.

and

nate,

may

S3

say commensurate

that

continue to this day in all fulness as at the

Now, the

office

is,

both

first.

of the Holy Spirit as the Illu-

minator has a special promise of perpetuity.

It

is

under the character of this Spirit of Truth that our

Lord promises that He should ' abide with us for
ever.'

'

He

shall

all

bring

things to your mind,'

not to the Apostles only, but to

all

'who should

believe in their word.'

And

this office of the

following operations

Holy

Grhost consists in the

First, in the original illumina-

minds of the Apostles, and

through them to the Church throughout the world.
Secondly, in the preservation of that which was

tion and revelation in the

revealed, or, in other words, in the prolongation of

the light of truth by which the Church in the beginning was illuminated. The Light of the Church

never wanes, but

is

permanent.

'The

city has

no

need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it.

For the glory of God doth enlighten it; and the

Lamb

is

the

lamp

thereof.'

to conceive, with
Thirdly, in assisting the Church
and clearness, the origreater fulness, explicitness,

ginal truth in

all its relations.

in
Fourthly, in defining that truth in words, and
1

S.

John

xiv. 16.

S.

John

G 2

xiv. 26.

Apoc. xxi. 23.

EELATION OF THE HOLT GHOST

84

the creation of a sacred terminology, which becomes

a permanent tradition and a perpetual expression of

the original revelation.

and proposiThe

Lastly, in the perpetual enunciation

tion of the same immutable truth in every age.

Holy

Spirit,

through the Church, enunciates to this

day the original revelation with an articulate voice,

which never varies or

Its voice to-day is

falters.

identical with the voice of every age,

and

identical with the voice of Jesus Christ.

heareth you heareth Me.'

Christ Himself, for the

the Son that which

And

'

He

It

is

this office of enunciating

through the

faith is accomplished

pastors of the Church.

The

'

He

that

the voice of Jesus

Holy Ghost
shews to

therefore

is

us.'

'

receives

'

of

and proposing the

human

pastoral

lips of the

authority, or

the Episcopate, together with the priesthood and the

other orders, constitute an organised body, divinely

ordained to guard the deposit of the Faith.

voice of that body, not as so
as a body, is the voice of the

toral ministry as a
Spirit,

body,

is

who

many

Holy Ghost.

body cannot

err,

The

individuals, but

The pas-

because the Holy

indissolubly united to the mystical

eminently and above all united to the hieris

archy and body of

its pastors.
1

S.

John

The Episcopate united

xvi.

TO THE CHURCH.
to its centre

is,

in all ages, divinely sustained and

and to enunciate the

divinely assisted to perpetuate

It

original revelation.
offer

not

is

proof of this assertion.

Be

treatise

Ecclesid

but

my

purpose here to

To do

so belongs to the

may note that the

emphatically to the Apostles,

;

and emphatically,

Grhost was

therefore, to the succes-

sors of the Apostles in all ages of the

give you another Paraclete,

shall

to

was to the Apostles

their

who

as emphatically,

successors with

Lord, when He

equal

constituted

'

Church.

He

abide

shall

with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth.'

it

promise

made
Holy
and inclusively to the

of the Temporal Mission of the

faithful

85

Again,

and therefore

emphasis, that our

them the

sole fountain

of His faith and law and jurisdiction to the world,

pledged also His perpetual presence and assistance

'all days, even unto the consummation of the

world.'

And once more,

it

was to Peter as the

head and centre of the Apostles, and for their sakes

and for their support in faith, that our Divine Lord
'

said,

I have prayed for thee, that thy faith

and when thou

It

is

fail

not,

art converted confirm thy brethren.'

needless for

me

to say that the whole tradition

of the Fathers recognises the perpetuity of the Apostolic College in

the world.

S.

the Episcopate diffused throughout

Irenseus declares

it

to be anointed

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

86

with

unction of

the

the

truth,

alluding to the

You have the

Holy One, and know all things.'

unction from the

'

words of S. John,

let

'

And

as for you,

Him

the unction which you have received from

abide in you.
teach you

things, and

And you have no need

that any

man

but as His unction teacheth you of all

is truth, and is no lie.
And as it hath

taught you, abide in Him.'

And thus the revelation of
1

God

is

divinely pre-

served and divinely proposed to the world.

revelation in
revelation

enunciated

human

custody

is

soon lost

Divine

a Divine

expounded by human interpreters,

by human discernment, puts off

or
its

Divine character and becomes human, as S. Jerome

says of the Scriptures,

So

it

when perverted by men.

But God has

might be said of the Church.

He

provided that what

has revealed should be for

ever preserved and enunciated by the perpetual pre-

sence and assistance of the same Spirit from

the revelation originally came.

And

whom

this gives

us

the basis of divine certainty and the rule of divine

faith.

(1)

when

The
it

voice of the living Church of this hour,

declares

what God has revealed

than the voice of the Holy Spirit,

1

S.

John

ii.

20-27.

is

no other

and therefore

TO THE CHURCPI.
generates divine faith in those

87

who

The

believe.

Baptismal Creed represents at this day, in all the

world, the preaching of the Apostles and the faith
of Pentecost.

It

the voice of the same Divine

is

Teacher who spoke in the beginning,

now the same truth in the same words.
(2)

Holy Scripture, known

understood,

is

enunciating

to be such,

and rightly

certainly the voice of the Holy Ghost,

and likewise may generate acts of Divine faith.

( 3) Whatsoever Tradition is found in all the world,
neither written in

Scripture nor

decreed

by

any

Council of the Church, but running up beyond the

Scripture and the General Councils,

is, according to
Divine origin.
(4) The Decrees of General Councils are undoubtedly the voice of the Holy Ghost, both because they
1

S. Augustine's rule, certainly of

are the organs of the active infallibility of the Church,

and because they have the pledge of a

special divine

assistance according to the needs of the

Church and

of the Faith.
(5)

The

Definitions and Decrees of Pontiffs, speak-

ing ex cathedra, or as the

of the Church and to

whole Church, whether by Bull, or

the
1

Head

'Quod universa tenet

semper

retentum

est,

rectissime creditur.'
ix. p.

140.

S.

Apostolic

Ecclesia, nee conciliis institution,

non

nisi

auctoritate

Aug. Be Bapt.

cont.

sed

apostolica traditum

Bonat.

lib. iv.

31, torn,

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

88

Letters, or Encyclical, or Brief, to

person, undoubtedly

and are

ance,

many

or to one

emanate from a divine

assists

infallible.

Augustine argues as follows of the Head and the

Therefore as the soul animates and quickens
body
our whole body, but perceives in the head by the
S.

'

action of

life,

by hearing, by smelling, by the

taste,

and by touch, in the other members by touch alone

(for all are subject to the head in their operation, the
head being placed above them for their guidance,
since the head bears the personality of the soul itself,
which guides the body, for there all the senses are
manifested), so to the whole people of the saints, as
of one

body, the

man

between God and man,

Now

Christ Jesus, the Mediator

is

head.'

the Pontiffs, as Vicars of Jesus Christ, have a

twofold relation, the one to the Divine

Church of

whom

'

Quomodo

of the

they are the representatives on earth,

the other to the whole body.

1

Head

And

these two relations

ergo anima totum corpus nostrum animat et vivificat,

capite et vivendo sentit et audiendo et odorando et gustando

et tangendo, in ceteris autem membris tangoudo tantum
et ideo
seel in

cuncta subjecta sunt ad operandum, illud autem supra

collocatum est ad consulcndum quia ipsius animse, quae consulit
capiti

corpori,

quodam modo personam

sensus apparel

sustinet caput,

ibi

enim omnis

universo populo sanctorum tanquam uni corpori

caput est Mediator Dei et hominum homo ChristUS Jesus.' S. Aug.

Be Ayone

sic

Christ, cap. 22, torn. vi. p. 254.

TO THE CHURCH.

89

impart a special prerogative of grace to him that

bears them.
The endowments of the head, as S.
Augustine argues, are in behalf of the body.

It

is

small thing to say that the endowments of the body

The Vicar of Jesus

are the prerogatives of the head.

Christ would bear no proportion to the body

it is infallible,

he were not.

representative character

of an infallible Head.

if

He would

he were the

Though

if,

while

bear also no

fallible witness

the analogy observed

Augustine between the head and the members

cannot strictly apply to the Vicar of Christ and the

by

S.

members upon

earth, nevertheless it invests

him with

a pre-eminence of guidance and direction over the

whole body, which can neither be possessed by any
other

member

of the body, nor by the whole body

without him, and yet attaches to him personally and

alone as representing to the body the prerogatives of
its

Divine Head.

The

infallibility of the

Head

of

the Church extends to the whole matter of revelation,

that

is,

to the Divine truth and the Divine law,

to all those facts or truths

faith

and morals.

The

and

which are in contact with

definitions

of the Church

include truths of the natural order, and the revelation

of supernatural truth
politics,

is

in contact with natural ethics,

and philosophy.

The

doctrines of the con-

substantiality of the Son, of transubstantiation,

and

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

90

of the constitution of humanity, touch

upon truths

of philosophy and of the natural order, but being- in

contact with the faith, they

Pontiffs

which

in matters

fall

within the infal-

So again the judgments of

libility of the Church.

affect the welfare of the

whole Church, such as the condemnation of proposiIn all declarations that such propositions are,
tions.
as the case
or

may

ears,

and the

be, heretical or savouring of heresy,

or

erroneous,

scandalous, or

offensive to pious

like, the assistance of the

Holy Spirit
and such

certainly preserves the Pontiffs from error

judgments are
from all.

infallible,

and demand interior assent

(6) The unanimous voice of the Saints in any

matter of the Divine truth or law can hardly be
believed to be other than the voice of the Spirit of

God by

the

'

rule,

Spiritus Sancti

And though

est.'

there

Consensus

Sanctorum sensus

'

is

no revealed pledge of

infalli-

bility to the Saints as such, yet the consent of the

'Quinta igitur conclusio est. Jn conclusiono sacra rum litterarum

omnium sanctorum vetenim intelligentia ccrtissinum

communis

argumentum theologo prasstat ad theologicas assertiones corrol orandas

quippe cum sanctorum omnium sensus Spiritus Sancti
sensus ipse sit.' Melchior Cairns, Be Locis Tkeol., de Sanct. Auct. lib.
;

vii.

cap.

3,

concl.

5.

TO THE CHURCH.
Saints

is

a high test of what

is

the

'

91

mind and

illumi-

nation of the Spirit of Truth.

(7)

the

The voice

dogma

when simply

of Doctors,

of the Church,

is

of the Church, and partakes of

commenting on
their authority

its

certainty.

they speak as private

it

delivering

identified with the voice

But

in

men, and

human.

is

The voice of the Fathers has weight as that

of Saints and of Doctors, and also as witnesses to
(8)

the faith in the ages in which they lived, and yet

they cannot generate divine faith nor afford a divine

certainty.

As

Gregory the Great says

S.

Fidelium discipulos

Ecclesise.'

They

'
:

Doctores

are taught by

the Church; and the judgment of a Council or a

Pontiff

is

judgment

generically distinct from the witness

number

of any

of Fathers, and

is

or

of a

higher order, and emanates from a special assistance.

(9)

The authority

evidently fallible,

of Philosophers

is

still

more

because more simply human.

(10) The authority of Human Histories is more

still, and can afford no adequate motive

uncertain

of divine certainty.

(11)

The Reason

or Private

Judgment of

indi-

viduals exercised critically upon history, philosophy,

theology, Scripture, and revelation, inasmuch as

the most human,

is

also the

most

fallible

it is

and uncer-

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

02

tain of all principles of faith, and cannot in truth be

Yet

rightly described to be such.

all

that remains to those

who

this

is

ultimately-

reject the infallibility

of the living Church.

In conclusion,

if

the relation between the body and

the Spirit be conditional and dissoluble, then the

enunciations of the Church are fallible and subject

to

human

criticism.

If the relation be absolute

all its

and

indissoluble, then

enunciations by Pontiffs, Councils, Traditions,

and universal consent of the Church, are

divine, and its voice also is divine, and identified with
the voice of its Divine Head in heaven.
Scriptures,

But that the

Spirit

is

relation

between the body and the

absolute and indissoluble, the Theologians,

Fathers, Scriptures, and the universal Church, as

we

have seen above, declare.

And

therefore the infallibility of the Church

perpetual,

and the truths of

is

revelation are so enun-

ciated by the Church as to anticipate all research, and

to exolude

from their sphere

all

human

criticism.

TO THE

HUMAX KEASON.

CHAPTEE

93

II.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST TO THE HUMAN

KEASON.

In the last chapter I have, I trust, established the

indissolubility of the union

between the Holy Spirit

from which follows,

and the Holy Catholic Church

by necessity,
and passive.

its

perpetual infallibility, both active

have indicated, at least in outline,

the organs through which that infallibility

is

exercised,

and have noted the degrees of authority possessed by

them, and the kind and degrees of assent required by
the acts and words of the Church or of its members.
In the present chapter I purpose to trace out the
Holy Spirit to the reason of man, both

relation of the

the collective reason of the Church and the individual

reason of

its

members taken one by

Now, there

are two ways in

one.

which the relation of

the Holy Spirit delivering the revelation of Grod to

the

human

1.

First,

reason

may be

treated.

we might consider the

relation of reve-

RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

94

lation to reason in those

that

who

as jet

do not believe

is,

the fact of a revelation, and to ascertain

2.

in the examination of evidence to establish

its

nature.

Secondly, the relation of revelation to reason

after the fact has

In the

first

been accepted.

case the reason acts as a judge of evi-

dence, in the second

it

submits as a disciple to a

Divine Teacher.
In the former case the reason must, by necessity,
act as a judge in estimating the motives of crediAdults in every age become Christian upon

bility.

being convinced by the proper evidence that ChrisThis process of

tianity is a divine revelation.
reason

Once illuminated,

the preamble of faith.

is

the reason of

man becomes

the disciple of a Divine

Teacher.

Such was the

came

state of those

exceptions in Christendom.
ings

is

To

Adult baptism was

say
exception

it

us.

and

The

in

the beginning

Now

they are the

rule of God's deal-

that revelation should be, not a discovery,

but an inheritance.

with

who

as adults to Christianity.

illustrate

at

first

my meaning

the rule,

now

it is

may
the

Infant baptism is the rule of (rod's dealing

So we inherit revelation before we examine

faith anticipates

judgment.

Again, to state

the same in other words, there are two ways of con-

TO THE HUMAN" REASON.

95

to revelation, the one

sidering the relation of reason
according to the logical and the other the historical
order.

Thomas

S.

He

says

useful

and

treats it in the logical order.

rational

that science or

knowledge

necessary to faith in four ways

is

(1) Faith presup-

of reason on the motives of

poses the operations
(2) Faith is rencredibility for which we believe.

dered intrinsically credible by reason. (3) Faith

is defended by
is illustrated by reason.
(4) Faith
1
reason against the sophisms of false philosophy.
It will perhaps be easier if we take the historical

order, because it follows

Grod's dealing

with

of the rule, and

us.

more simply the method of

We will

therefore treat

hereafter, so far as

first

needs be, of the

exceptions.
I speak then of the relations of reason to revelation
in those who are within the light and tradition of

truth.
I.

The

receive

first

relation of reason to revelation is to

it by intellectual apprehension.

It

is

like

1
E veramente 1' Angelico ha costantemente inculcate la necessita
ed utilita della scienza per riguardo alia Fede, e le ha dedotte da
sono questi la Fede presuppone la scienza, si
quattro capi, i quali
rende credibile per la scienza, e illustrata in qualche moclo con la
contra i sofismi della falsa
scienza, e dalla scienza vien difesa
'

filosofia.'

Sanseverino, IPrincipali

Napoli, 1858, p. 14.

Sisteini della Filosofia

ml

Criteria,

RELATION OP THE HOLY GHOST

96

There

the relation of the eye to the light.

may

say,

active

two kinds of

that

is,

sight, the passive

in plain words, there

between seeing and looking.

is

quiescent, in the latter it

is

are, I

and the

a difference

In the former the will

is

in activity.

We

a thousand things when we look only at one

see the light even

when we do

not consciously

see

we
fix

the eye upon any particular object by an act of the

will.
So the intellect is both passive and active.

And

the intellect must

first

be in some degree pas-

sively replenished or illuminated

itself to it.

it

can actively apply

to

go back to our old lessons in

by an object before
What is this but
logic, to the three

primary operations of the mind apprehension, judg-

ment, and discourse or process of reasoning ? Now

the apprehension of our logic is what may be called
the passive relation of the reason to revelation, by

which

apprehends, ur understands, or knows, call it

will, the meaning or outline of the truth

it

which we

presented to

it

before as yet

it

has

made any

act

either of judgment or of discourse.

And

this

may be

said to be the

normal and most

to revelation.
perfect relation of the reason

the

nearest approach which can be

made

It

is

in this

world to the quiescent contemplation of truth.

It is-

the state into which we return after the most pro-

TO THE

HUMAN

REASON".

07

longed and active process of the intellect the state

to which we ascend by the most perfect operations of
;

reasoning.

The degrees

of explicit knowledge deepen

the intensity of knowledge; but the difference of

knowing Grod as a child and knowing (rod as a

philosopher

is

not in kind but in degree of discursive

knowledge, and the knowledge of the philosopher

may be less perfect than the knowledge of the child.

The proof

of this appears to be evident. Eevelation

not discovery, or rather revelation is the discovery

of Himself by Grod to man, not by man for himself.

is

It is not the activity of the

human

discovers the truths of revelation.

It

reason which
is

Gfod dis-

covering or withdrawing the veil from His own

of it upon us.
intelligence, and casting the light

These are truisms; but they are truths almost as

universally forgotten and violated in the common
habits of thought as they are universally admitted

when enunciated.

We may
nomy

is

take an illustration from science.

Astro-

a knowledge which comes to us by discovery.

was built up by active observation, and by reasonA tradition of astronomy has descended to us
in^.
It

from the highest antiquity, perpetually expanding

its circumference and including new regions of truth,

But

its

whole structure

is

the result of the active

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

98

Even

reason.
search.

star-gazing

Chemistry again

is

an active process of

is

more a

still

science of

discovery, of experiment, of conjecture, and of active

inquiry after secret qualities in minerals, vegetables,

gases,

and the

Hardly any part of

like.

said to be self-evident, or

Much more

all

to

and

come by the applica-

They

were, of the

it

families of truths in the natural world.

human know-

All these branches and provinces of

ledge

can be

anticipate discovery.

the truths which

tion of science, by the crossing, as

races

it

may be

called

not revelations.

discoveries,

are the fruits of an intense, prolonged, and ac-

cumulated cultivation of the human reason, and of the

distinct soil of subject-matter of each region of truth.

Such may be called the genesis of

the relation of science to revelation

is

relation of reason to natural science

so dismiss

it.

But

show the difference between the

I speak of it only to

and

science.

not our subject.

When we come

process of the reason

is

and

to revelation, the

We

inverted.

to revelation,

start

from a

knowledge which we have not discovered, which we

passively received, which we may cultivate for ever
without enlarging

its

circumference or multiplying

the articles of faith.

It

is

impossible to quote Scripture without seeming

to use it in proof.

But

quote

it

now, not as proof,

TO THE

HUMAN REASON.

99

but only as the best formula to express my meaning,

which must be proved indeed by other proper reasons.

though the existence of God may be

and from lights of the natural
proved by reason
of God's
order, it is certain that the knowledge
existence anticipated all such reasoning. The theism
First, then,

of the world was not a discovery.

Mankind

pos-

was penetrated and

by
of it, and reasonpervaded by it before any doubted
but follow the doubts. Theists
ing. did not precede
sessed it

primeval revelation,

came before Philosophers, and Theism before AtheGod. 1

ism, or even a doubt about the existence of

Paul says that

S.

'

the invisible things of

Him

from

the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, His eternal
also and divinity, so that they are inexcus-

power

able.'

The word

seen signifies

that

God

reflects

Himself from the face of His works, and that the

'Deinde dato, quod metaphysice contingere possit omnimoda
Dei ignorantia invincibilis in eo, qui peccat, ut proinde metaphysice
dari possit peccatum pure Philosophicum Nihilominus de facto est
moraliter impossibilis isthsec ignorantia, qua excusetur homo a reatu
odii Divini, et poense seternse, dum ponit humano modo actum
1

naturae rationali,
graviter disconyenientem

unde peccatum pure Philosophicum

ac rationis dictamini

est saltern moraliter in praesenti

Eatio est, quia in prsesenti providentia

proTidentia impossibile.
non datur ignorantia Dei invincibilis in hominibus rati one utentibus.
Viva, Theses Damnatce. Prop, de Peccato Philosophic!) ab Alex. VIII.

damn, pars
2

Rom.

i.

iii.

12.
p. 13, sec.

20.

100

THE RELATION OF THE HOLT GnOST

human

intelligence,

which was illuminated with the

knowledge of God, could read by reason-

traditional

ing the proofs of His existence in that reflection.

These primary truths, therefore, of natural theology

are propounded by the visible world to the reason of

man. The knowledge of the ex istence of God pervaded

the

human

intelligence as a traditional axiom, an in-

herited light, a consciousness of the

anterior to all reflections

human

family

upon the proofs, or analysis

The

of the evidence from which it springs.

alleged

instances of individuals and races without the

know-

ledge of (rod are anomalies in the history of

man-

kind, and

What

errors in philosophy.
is

true of natural

is

still

more

true

of

The knowledge which God has

came to man by gift and by

revealed theology.

discovered of Himself

'
God who at
by logic nor by research.
and
in
times
divers
manners
hath
sundry
spoken to
us in time past by the prophets, has in these last days

infusion, not

'
l
The Word was made
spoken to us by His Son.'
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,

the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of

grace and truth.'

'

God, who commanded the light

to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts.'

The Incarnation was the

1

Heb.

i.

1.

revelation of

S.

John

i.

God by

14; 2 Cor.

iv. 6.

per-

HUMAN REASON.

TO THE

and immediate illumination of

sonal manifestation

the

human

101

The

reason.

Disciples

knew Him

graof
not
but
processes
gradual
by
discovery,
dually,
by

gradual revelation of Himself. The light of 'the

face of Jesus Christ was the source of their illumi'

He

As

nation.

gradually revealed Himself by His

miracles, His words, His passion, His resurrection,

His ascension, their apprehension of His Godhead

and His power enlarged its circle, and their consciousness

pervaded

of
all

His

Divine

personality

and

power

their intellect with the evidence of a

What

supernatural light.
the Holy Spirit was

still

day of Pentecost filled

Jesus was to His Disciples

further to the Apostles.

The

up the whole outline of the

revelation of which Jesus was both the subject and the

first

Discoverer, that

But

is,

Eevealer to the

these are self-evident truths.

human reason.
The

collective

intelligence of the Apostles was the centre and spring-

head of the collective intelligence of the Church.

The Church is composed of head, body, soul, intelligence,

pervades

and
it

will

and the illumination of truth

in all its faculties, and sustains in it a

perpetual consciousness of the whole outline of revelation.

All that Jesus revealed in person or

Spirit hangs suspended in the

It was not discovered

by

it,

mind

by His

of the Church.

but revealed to

it,

and

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

102

by the quiescent

received

intellect,

was illuminated by a divine

light.

which thereby
Its activity was

by the infusion of revealed truth, and the

elicited

Church apprehended and coman

active
knowledge the revelation it
prehended by
intelligence of the

had received.

And

thus truth became an inheritance, descending

from generation to generation, anticipating all discovery, search, or doubt, and filling the intelligence
with

its

taking possession of

light,

operation.

It

is

it

by a divine

sustained indeed by the presence of

a Divine Person and an infallible Teacher.

But

latter point does not enter at present into the

before us, which

this

matter

to consider of the relations of the

is

reason in individuals, or of the faithful as a body, to

the deposit of revelation, and not the relations of

the 'magisterium Ecclesiae,' or of the operation of

the reason of the Church under the assistance and as

the organ of an infallible Teacher.

This would need

a separate treatment, and involve another class and

and must be reserved for another

series of questions,

place.
II.
is

The second

relation of the reason to revelation

to propagate the truth it has received.

and make

disciples of
1

S.

all

Matt,

nations.'
xxviii. 19.

'Go ye

'Freely have

HUMAN KEASON.

TO THE

103

l
They were the messengers
ye received, freely give.'
of a Divine Teacher, the witnesses of an order of

divine facts.

what

The reason

had received.

it

had learned, not

of dialectics

but

nor

of the Apostles diffused

They enumerated what they

nor
nor
philosophies

as discoveries
as

as declarations of the

as conclusions
as criticisms

Divine mind and

will.

The Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after

wisdom but we preach Christ crucified, unto the
4

Jews indeed a stumbling-block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness ; but unto them that are called, both

Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the

wisdom of God.' 2

The reason

of mankind, in like manner, received

the revelation declared to

it

both by the lights of

'
I was found

nature and by the lights of Pentecost.

of

them that did not seek me

them that asked not

The preaching
of truth

after me.'

'

of the Apostles was an affirmation

not as a problem to be proved, but as a

revelation to be believed.
said

I appeared openly to

As when our Divine Lord

Search the Scriptures,'

proof of His

own Divine

He

did not rest the

personality, mission,

truth upon the private judgment of His hearers

'

S.

Matt.

x. 8.
*

Isaias in

Eom.

x. 20.

Cor.

i.

22, 24.

and
;

so

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

104

the Apostles,

when they preached Jesus

at Bera^a or

at Athens, referred their hearers to Scripture

nature, not as

if

their

and

to

preaching depended upon

was the key and

these, but because their preaching

fulfilment of the

What

nature.

meaning both of Scripture and of

they had apprehended from the lips

of a Divine Teacher, they declared in His

the apprehension of other

men

and in

name

to

this tradi-

tion of truth from intelligence to intelligence, the

reason in

its

quiescent apprehension was

filled

with

an absolute certainty which anticipated all inquiry.

The searching of Scriptures added nothing objectively to the light
to

them.

what

the

It

and certainty of the truth delivered

only assured

them

subjectively that

Apostles taught was what nature and

Scripture taught likewise, so far as they extended.

To the Athenians
sower,

gods,

S.

Paul was a babbler and a word

and Jesus and the Eesurrection were strange

till

they believed the Apostle to be a teacher

sent from God.

They then believed not anything

they had discovered, but what they heard.
III.

define

third relation of reason to revelation

the truths divinely presented to

it.

is

to

What

was apprehended was immediately clothed in words.

The intellect invests its thoughts in words as it
apprehends them.

The

illumination of the day of

HUMAN REASON.

TO THE

105

Pentecost found utterance at once in

many tongues.
many languages

It clothed itself in the words of

and those words certainly were not chosen without

the assistance of the same Divine Teacher who re-

The

vealed the truths which they expressed.

first

definitions of the Christian Faith are the Articles of

We may pass

the Baptismal Creed.

traditions of the time
It is

tions.

same

enough

and place of

for our

over the historical

its first

composi-

purpose to say, that the

same -order, and, so far as the

diversity of language admits, in the same words, were
doctrines, in the

delivered to the catechumens

and to the baptized

In S.

Irenaeus, Tertullian,

throughout the world.

Origen,

S.

Cyprian, and

S.

Gregory Thaumaturgus,

the outline of this universal creed

Churches of
andria,

Jerusalem,

Caesarea,

in the East;

may be

of

Eome,

read.

The

Antioch, Alex-

Aquileia,

Eavenna

and Tours, of Gaul, Africa, and Spain, in the West,

taught them in the same terms and order. In S. Cyril
of Jerusalem in the East, and in S. Nicetas in the

West, the Baptismal Creed may be found expounded.

In the Councils of Nice and Constantinople it was

more

explicitly declared.

In

all this,

the reason of

the Church defined by a reflex act, the truths of

which

was possessed.
Again the Church in
it

its

General Councils has

THE KELATIOX OF THE HOLT GHOST

100

lineally defined

to the

the

of each

needs

revelation

original

successive

age.

according

The eigh-

teen General Councils are one continuous action of

the same mind, preserving

and defining

it

the

identity of truth,

by a growing precision of expres-

sion.

In like manner, the theology of the Church consists chiefly in an enunciation of revealed truths.
Its
dialectical, or polemical, processes are not its
S.

operations.

may

John, who

is

primary

called the Theologian,

be taken as a type of the sacred science.

The

heavens were opened to him, and the throne and the

heavenly court, the history and future of the Church

were revealed. What he saw he fixed in words.

What was

visible in the heavens

the page of the Apocalypse.

he transcribed upon
It was a process of

apprehension and description, by which the structure

and action of the kingdom of God in heaven and

earth wa3 delineated.
its primary operation, is the nature of
which
defines and enunciates the divine
theology,
truths and facts of revelation, and presents them in

Such, in

their manifold unity,

symmetry, and

relations,

and

that in three distinct spheres or circles of truth

first,

the original Eevelation

secondly, the defini-

tions framed of apostolical tradition, of pontiffs, and

HUMAN EEASON.

TO THE
of councils

and

all this

judgments and dogmatic

Church speaks infallibly.

thirdly, the

facts, in which the

In

107

the reason

is

as a disciple

who

intelli-

gently apprehends, rehearses, and defines the truths

which he has received.

IV.

defend

and

fourth relation of reason to revelation

And

it.

this

may be

in

is

to

two ways, negatively

positively.

By

negatively I

strate

either

revelation,

or

validity,

But

mean

that the reason can demon-

the nullity of

arguments brought against

by showing their intrinsic in-

by the analogy of the

facts of nature.

in this process the reason does not

assume to

demonstrate the truth of revealed doctrines, which

rest

upon

against

their

reason.

own proper

evidence.

Eeason contending

against reason contending against

revelation

stands upon

its

own

it.

It is reason
for

revelation

All the while

basis, that is

the

natural and supernatural witness, or consciousness

The argument
away what may be

and illumination of the Church.

against objectors simply clears
called the criticism or

rationalism of the

human

reason opposing itself to the revelation of the Divine.

The

positive defence of theology occupies

itself

with demonstrating the possibility of revelation,

its

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

103

fitness, its probability,

and the

The

the necessity of a revelation,

fact.

and

first

simplest

operation of the reason

form of

defensive

this

to be found in the ancient

is

Apologies, such as those of Justin Martyr, Tertullian,

Arnobius, Minucius Felix, in which the possibility,

probability,

and

fitness

of revelation are assumed,

and the whole effort of the apologists

is

prove the fact, and that Christianity

But

tion.

this

is

is

directed to

that revela-

addressed not to those

who

are

within the Church, but to those who are without

that

is,

Jews and Gentiles.

to

In these Apologies we find the simple enunciation

of the doctrines of faith, but no system or

method

of

theological science.
It

is

theology

remarkable how
is

Exuberant

as it

and in dogmatic
versy during

little

be found in the

to

of scientific

trace

Oriental Church.

was in expositions of Holy Scripture,

treatises on the mysteries in contro-

the period of the four

first

General

Councils, of which the Commentaries of Origen and

S.

S.

John Chrysostom, and the works of

Gregory of Nyssa,

S. Basil,

and

S.

nevertheless there

tempt

S.

Gregory

S. Athanasius,

of

Nazianzum,

Cyril of Alexandria, are witness,

is

at a theological

hardly to be

traced any at-

method or complete

scientific

HUMAN REASON.

TO THE

of revelation.

expression
positive as

S.

a scientific

method

his works.

Some

traces

Augustine

of theology

and others

to be found in

are

method
'

last to

so stationary

Oriental

is

in the eighth

and the

be

Jerusalem, Lac-

but in truth the first writer in

said that his work,

to

of Theophilus of Antioch,

anything of scientific arrangement

Damascus

first

is

S. Cyril of

Clement of Alexandria,

pleteness of

and

exact,

cannot be said that

theologians are of opinion, that

found in the writings

whom

is, it

such a scientific treatment

of

tantius,

Dialectical,

109

to be found

century.

De Orthodoxa

is

And
Fide,'

S.
it

is

or

com-

John of

may be
both the

be found in the Oriental Church,

and unreflective,

it

would seem, has the

mind become

since its separation from the

and

intellectual activity, the Chair

centre of spiritual
of S. Peter.

Since S. John of Damascus, I hardly

know what

the Greek Church has produced, except a

few meagre

Catenas of the Fathers upon cert? in

books of Holy Scripture, the works of Theophylact,

of miserable Erastian canon law, a few still
a

body
more meagre catechetical works, and many virulent
and schismaticai attacks upon the Primacy of the

Holy
the

See.

human

years

is

It

may be

truly said that the history of

intellect in the last eighteen

hundred

the history of Christianity, and the history

THE KELATION" OP THE HOLY GHOST

110

of Christianity
It

is

the history of the Catholic Church.

in the Catholic

is

Church that the human

intellect

has developed its activity and its maturity, both

within the sphere of revelation and beyond it.

was

It

not

the eleventh century that

before

theology assumed a scientific and systematic form.

Italy and France may claim the precedence, because

who

the two

or reared

led the

way

by them; but

in this

it is

no

work were born

little

glory to

in,

England

they were both

that

Archbishops of Canterbury,
Lanfranc and his disciple S. Anselm. It was another

Archbishop of Canterbury who gave to the theological studies of

England a

direction

scientific

by

introducing into the University of Oxford the study

of Aristotle

day

which, strange to say, endures to this

mean

Edmund.

S.

and Richard of

S.

Robert Pool, Otto

Victor,

Hildebert

of Frisingen, S.

came Hugh
of

Tours,

Bernard, and

was at this period that the first explicit

took place between reason ministering to

It

others.
collision

revelation as

a critic

After these

There

its disciple,

that

may

is,

between

and reason dissecting it

S. Bernard and Abelard.

be said to be

three

epochs in

as

the

science of theology.
S.

who

Anselm

is

not untruly thought to be the

first

gave to theology the scientific impulse which

TO THE
has stamped a

HUMAN REASON.

Ill

new form and method on

its

treat-

His two works, the 'Cur Deus Homo,' or

ment.

Ratio Incarnationis,' and that on the Holy Trinity

called ' Fides quserens Intellectum Divinse Essentiae
'

et

SSmse

Trinitatis,'

may be

mark

said to

of the three epochs in theological science.

axiom of

S.

the

first

The

chief

Anselm's theological method

expressed in his

own words

t
:

may be

Sicut rectus ordo exigit

credamus quam ea
prgesumamus ratione discutere, ita negligentia mihi
ut profunda Christiana?

videtur,

si

fidei prius

postquam confirmati sumus in

fide,

non

studemus quod credimus intelligere.'

The second epoch was constituted by the ' Liber
Sententiarum' of Peter Lombard, which formed the
1

text of the Schools for nearly two centuries.

ander of Hales, Albertus Magnus,

S.

Alex-

Bonaventura,

Thomas, and many more commented on the Book

of the Sentences, and formed the School of the SenS.

tentiastse,

who were

fated to pass

away before the

greater light of the third epoch.

The

third epoch was

made by

indeed true that England

this

Before the

S.

may

Thomas.

It is

claim somewhat of

Summa

Theologica of S.
Thomas, Alexander of Hales had formed a Summa
glory.

Universse Theologiae, which would have inaugurated

1

Cur Deus Homo,

lib.

i.

c.

2.

THE EELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

112

new

order,

had not the more perfect amplitude,

period,

and unity of

From

shade.

this

Thomas

S.

cast all others into

time the Book of the Sentences

gave way to the Sum of Theology as the text of the

Schools, and the Sententiastse yielded to the SumFrom this time onward two great streams of
mistse.
scientific

theology flow towards us, the one of Domi-

commentators

nican

doctor, such as

others

on the

Caietan,

Sum

Sylvius,

of their

the

great

Sotos,

and

the other, which sprang later, of Jesuit com-

De Lugo, and the like.

Trent, another mode of treat-

mentators, Suarez, Vasquez,

Since the Council of

ing theology has arisen,

The controversy with the

pretended appeal to antiquity, threw the Catholic

theologian more and more upon the study of the
History of

Dogma

and theology assumed what

called the positive method.

lastic

method

ascendency.

still

And

held and holds to this day

many

its

that because it represents the in-

tellectual process of the Church, elaborating,

a period of

is

Nevertheless, the Scho-

through
and

centuries, an exact conception

The

expression of revealed truth.

Scholastic

method

can never cease to be true, just as logic can never

cease to be true, because

it is

the intellectual order

of revealed truths in their mutual relations, harmony,

and

unity.

To

depreciate it

is

to

show that we do

HUMAN REASON.

TO THE
not understand

it.

The critical and

113

exegetical studies

which are tributary to it may be advanced and corrected, but the form of the Scholastic theology has
the intrinsic nature and relations of the

its basis in

which

truths of

All else

it treats.

subordinate and

is

accidental.

V. The last relation of which I will speak

is

that

of transmitting theology by a scientific treatment and

The mind

tradition.

has

as

had,

or intelligence of the

we have

seen,

revelation entrusted to

supernatural knowledge

arises
;

relations to the

namely, that of passive

it,

from which

reception,

many

Church

the

consciousness of

that of enunciation, which

presupposes apprehension or conception of the truths

received

that

expression,
faith

dence

and the orderly digest

that
;

and,

tradition.

of definition, or the precise verbal

of defence, by
finally,

by a

way

of the doctrines of

of proof

scientific

and

evi-

treatment and

I say scientific, because theology, though

not a science proprie dicta,

may

be truly and cor-

rectly so described.

The

definition of Science, according to both philo-

sophers and theologians,

is

'

the habit of the

mind

conversant with necessary truth,' that is, truth which

admits of demonstration and of the certainty which
excludes

the possibility of

its

contradictory being

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY

114

According to the Scholastic philosophy, Science

true.
is

GIIOS'l

defined as follows

Viewed

subjectively, it is

'The certain and evident

knowledge of the ultimate reasons or principles of

truth, attained

Viewed

by reasoning.'
'

objectively, it is

same

The system

of

known

order, as a whole,

and

depending upon one only principle.'

This is founded on the definition of Aristotle.

In

truths belonging to the

'

the sixth book of the Ethics, ch.

this it is evident

what Science

is

3,

he says

'
:

From

to speak accurately,

and not to follow mere similitudes, for we all understand that what we know cannot be otherwise than

we know

For whatsoever may or may not

it.

a practical question,

For that which

be.

is

not

known

known

For whatsoever

fore eternal.
eternal.'

is

is

is

be, as

to be or not to

necessary

is

necessary

there-

simply

Essa [la scieuza] yiene considerata sotto un doppio rispetto,

l'uno oggettivo, e 1' altro subbiettivo per il primo essa signifies un
sistema intiero di cognisioni dimostrate e dipendenti da un solo
1

'

principio,
definisce

cose

come gli anelli di una stessa catena per il secondo si

una cognizione certa ed evidente delle ultirne ragioni delle
;

ottenuta Tnerce del ragmiameiito'Sanseyer'mo, Elcmcnti

i.
Napoli, 1862.
pp. 130, 131.

di

Fdosofia Speculatlva, vol.

2

'E7n<rT-/j,ui)

\oyu<r6at xal

fiev
jutj

oiiv

ri

iffTiv,

aitoAovQeiv reus

ivrevOev
<5/*oioT7)<rij/.

Sei

anpi&o-

TldfTis yap

virohufi-

(pavtpbv

el

'

**** ^X*'" T<* 5 e>'8ex<V/ a

/xi) eV5e'xec0ai
\av6dvei. el iariv y fj.ii.
'E|
SAAcoT, orar e|o> rod Oewpelv ytvwrai,
&oa lori rb iinaTrirdv. Arist. Ethics, bouk vi. chap. iii.
'

/3cM'oufe. h 4irio-TdiJLf6a,

avd-)Kt]s

HUMAN SEASON.

TO THE

'

115

Such also is the definition of S. Thomas, who says,

Whatsoever truths are truly known, as by certain

knowledge (ut certa

into their

first

known by resolution

scientia), are

principles,

which of themselves are im-

mediately present to the intellect

and

so all science is

constituted by a vision of the thing as present, so that

impossible that the same thing should be the object

itis

both of faith and of science, because, that

obscurity of the principles of

faith.'

is,

of the

Nevertheless,

he affirms that from principles accepted by faith,

truths may be proved to the faithful, as from principles naturally known to others and that, therefore,
;

theology

is

a science

from Caietan,
latively

is

2
:

but

this, as

Vasquez shows

to be understood not simply, but re-

non simpliciter, sed secundum quid.

opinion of Caietan, founded

on

S.

Thomas,

The
that

is,

1
Qusecuinque sciimtur proprie, ut certa scientia, cognoscuntur per
resolutionem in prima principia, quse per se prsesto sunt intellectui
'

et

sic

omnis scientia in visione

impossiLile

est,

quod de eodem

uncle
prsesentis perficitur
sit fides et scientia.'
D. Thorn. De
rei

Veritate, quaest. xiv. art. 9.

2
Kespondeo. Dicendum, Sacram Doctrinam esse scientiam. Sed
sciendum est, quod duplex est scientiarum genus. Qusedam enim
sunt, quae procedunt ex principiis notis lumine naturali intellectus,
'

sicut Arithmetica, Geometria, et hujusmodi.

Qusedam vero

quae procedunt ex principiis notis lumine superioris scientise

sunt,
:

sicut

Perspectiva procedit ex principiis notificatis per Geometriam et

Musica ex principiis per Arithmeticam notis. Et hoc modo Sacra
;

scientia, quia procedit ex principiis notis lumine

D.
superioris scientise, quae scilicet est scientia Dei et Beatorum.'

Doctrina est

Thorn. Sum. Theol.

Prima

pars, qusest.
l

i.

art. 2.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

116

itself,

and

and the

to be understood in two ways

is

theology

The former

as it is in us.

blessed,

which

is

viatores,'

science subalternate, deriving

science in

God by

faith,

as it

is

properly science

'

as it is in us, as

which

in
its

as
;

is

it is

in

in

God

the latter,

state

it

is

principles from the

and therefore not to be

called

The Thomists generally seem

that theology in us, as " viatores," when

1
properly a science.

to have held

'

deduced from

articles

known by

divine faith only,

true and proper science, not only in

is in us

itself,

but as

is

it

but, nevertheless, imperfect in its kind.'

But the more common opinion among the Scholastic

theologians affirms that theology in us, 'viatores,' as
it is

in us,

not true and proper science. Such

is

The summary
who

of Valentia,

of the question
'

says

is

the

and of many quoted by him.

opinion also of Vasquez,

is

given by Gregory
is not science

That theology

1
Bifariam ergo Caietanus accipit Theologiam unum (licit esse
Dei et Beatorum alteram vero viatorum; hanc posteriorem rur.-us
'

dividit in Theologiam secundum se, et prout est in nobis

Asserit igitur in viatoribus esse imperfectam scientiam, hoc est, non
vere et propria scientiam sed scientiam subalteraatam
'
Quart a sententia [opinio Alberti et Thomistarum] satis communis
inter reccntiores est, Theologiam viatorum ex articulis sola fide

divina creditis deductam esse vere et proprie scientiam. non tantum

secundum se sed etiam ut est in ipsis viatoribus, imperfectam tamen
in .suo genere.

'Ultima igitur sententia magis communis inter Scholasl

Theologiam viatorum ut in ispis est, non esse vere
scientiam.'
Vasquez, Disp. in I. c. D. Thorn, vol. i. pp.

icos

ami-mat

et

proprie

10, 11.

TO THE

HUMAN SEASON.

117

taught by Durandus, Ocham, Gabriel, and others,

whose opinions I hold to be the truest. The founda-

is

tion of all these

is

most

certain, namely, that it is of

the essence of science, according to Aristotle, that the

assent elicited

by

it

should be evident

for

he who

knows, must know that the thing cannot be other-

But the habit of theo-

wise than he knows

it

logy does not

such an assent.

assent

elicit

to be.

For theological

must be resolved into two,

or at least one

proposition resting on faith, which cannot be evident.

Therefore, theological assent

But

this does not detract

logy.

For though

it

is

not evident

from the dignity of theo-

be not a proper science,

it is

habit absolutely more perfect than any science.'

Gregory of Valentia goes on to

then, be neither science in itself

'

say,

Let theology,

as the philosophers

describe

it

nor properly

the science of

God and

a science subalternated to

of the blessed, but only

im-

proprie, by reason of a certain similitude which it

bears to sciences which are properly subalternated to
higher sciences, because

it

proceeds from the asser-

tions of faith, or from principles which are

the knowledge and science of

God and

Yet nevertheless by the best of

a science, because, absolutely,
fect than

rights

it is

known by

of the blessed.

it

may be called

a habit

more per-

any science described by philosophers.'

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

118

Gregory of Valentia proceeds to show that theois

logy

He

more

perfect than science properly so called.

does so by affirming that

proves by showing that

of wisdom.

First,

versal truths.

of Aristotle

him

is

treats of the highest

it

and uni-

called in Scripture.

it is so

be proved to be so by the authority

because the

five

in wisdom, and found by

conditions required by

him

the highest wisdom in his esteem

eminent degree by theology.'

in metaphysics

are

fulfilled in

First, it

an

deals with

Second, with things the most removed

universals.

from

This he

wisdom.

has the 'three conditions

it

Secondly,

may

it

Thirdly,

it

sense.

Third,

it is

a most certain habit of the

intellect, proceeding from the most certain causes.

Fourth, it is self-caused, and not caused by any other

science.

Fifth, it

but directs
1

itself

directed by no other science,

is

and

all

other sciences. 1

Theology, then,' as Vasquez says,

'

does not

mean

Theologiam igitur non esse proprie seientiam talem, qualem

Aristoteles descripsit, docent Durandus, Arimin., Ocham, Gabriel.
1

'

Fundamentura
alii, quorum sententiam puto verissimam.
enim horum omnium est certissimum, nempe quod de ratione scientise
secundum Arist. est, ut assensus ab ea elicitus sit evidens cum
oporteat, eum qui scit, cognoscere, non posse rem aliter se habere,
atque adeo assentiri immobiliter. Sed habitus Theologiae non elicit
talem assensum.
Ergo non est scientia talis, qnalis ab Arist.

Marsil., et

describitur.

Assumptio probatur.

resolvi in duas aut saltern in

evidens.

Nee propterea

Nam

asscnsus Theologicus debet*

imam propositionem

fidei, quae nonest

decedit aliquid do dignitate Theologise.

HUMAN SEASON.

TO THE

any kind

of knowledge of

might be called theology

God,

for

nor does

119
so faith

also

mean

the

it

knowledge by which we know how to explain and to

is delivered in Scripture
but by
theology is understood a science by which, from prindefend that which

ciples revealed in Scripture, or

councils, or confirmed

and believed by the tradition

Etsi enim propria scientia non est, est

simpliciter,

quam

by the authority of

tamen habitus

perfectior

scientia.

Maneat ergo Theologiam neque secundum se quidem esse

scientiam talem, qualem descripserunt Philosopbi, neque proprie
scientiam subalternatam scientise Dei et Beatorum, sed tantum im'

nonnullam similitudinem, quam habet cum proprie

quod procedit ex assertionibus fidei, tanquam
ex principiis quse sunt notse per scientiam Dei et Beatorum. Et
nihilominus tamen optimo jure scientiam appellari, eo quod est

proprie, propter

subalternatis, hoc ipso

absolute perfectior habitus, quam ulla scientia descriptaaPhilosophis.

Theologiam esse sapientiam potest probari, peimo, ex ipsa vocis
Nam cum Theologia in suo genere consideret res divinas,
notione.
et certissime, et per altissimum, ac maxime universale principium,
per revelationem scilicet divinam, maxime proprie est sapientia.
Secundo, confirmatur ex phrasi Scripturse, quse talem scientiam
simpliciter vocat sapientiam, 1 Cor. 2, Sapientiam loquimur inter
perfectos, et cap. 12, Alii datur sermo sapientia.

Teetio, probatur

auctoritate et exemplo Aristotelis, qui lib. i. Met. habitum scientificum existimat nominandum esse sapientiam, si habeat quinque conditiones, quas habet longe praestantius Theologia,

humana.

Peima

quodammodo

conditio

in universale

quam ulla

scientia

ut eo habitu cognoscantur omnia

Secunda, ut circa maxime difficilia, et

est,

a sensibus remota versetur.

Teetia, ut

sit certissimus habitus proQtjarta, ut sit causa sui, et non

Quinta, ut ab alia scientia non dirigatur, sed

cedens ex certissimis causis.

alterius scientia?.

dirigat ipse, et judicet scientias alias.'

pp. 22, 32, 44.

Greg. De Valentia,

torn.

i.

THE EELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

120

of the Church, we' infer other truths and conclusions

by evident consequence.'

Following the principles here laid down, theology

may be called a science. First, because it is a science,
not as to

if

its

principles, at least as to its form,

method, process, development, and transmission. And

because, if

its

principles are not evident, they are, in

the higher regions of

all

because

many

of

them

it

infallibly certain

are the necessary, eternal,

and

and

incorruptible truths which, according to Aristotle,

generate science.
Eevelation, then, contemplated and transmitted in
exactness and method,

may be

called a science

and

the queen of sciences, the chief of the hierarchy of

truth

and

it

enters

intellectual system

and takes the

first

place in the

and tradition of the world.

possesses all the qualities

so far as its subject-matter

It

and conditions of science

admits

namely, certainty,

as against doubt, defmiteness as against vagueness,

harmony

as

incoherence,

against discordance, unity as

progress

as

against

against

dissolution

and

stagnation.
'Sed nomine Tkeologise significanras scientiam, qua quis ex
principiis in Seripturis revelatis, vel conciliorum auctoritate, aut
EcclesifE traditiono fiimatis et creditis, infert alias veritates et
1

conclusioncs per evidentcm consequential)!.'

Thorn, disp. iv. art. ii. cap. 1, tain. i. p. 9.

Vasquez,

in

I.

c.

D.

TO THE

HUMAN REASON.

121

knowledge and belief of the existence of God

has never been extinguished in the reason of man-

The polytheisms and

kind.

idolatries

which sur-

rounded it were corruptions of a central and dominant

truth which, although obscured, was never

And

lost.

the tradition of this truth was identified with the

higher and purer operations of the natural reason,

which have been called the intellectual system of
the world.

The mass

of mankind, howsoever de-

based, were always theists.

Atheists, as I have said,

were anomalies and exceptions.

The theism

of the

primeval revelation formed the intellectual system

The theism of the patriarchal
of the heathen world.
revelation formed the intellectual system of the

brew
of

The theism

race.

God

has formed the intellectual system of the

Christian world.

The

science

itself

habits

The

He-

revealed in the incarnation

or

'

Sapientia sedificavit sibi domum.'

knowledge of God has built

for

a tabernacle in the intellect of mankind, init,

and abides in

it.

intellectual science of the world finds its per-

fection in the scientific expression of the theology of

faith.

But from

first

to last the reason of

man

the disciple, not the critic, of the revelation of

is

God

and the highest science of the human intellect is

that which, taking its preamble from the light of

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

122

nature, begins in faith

from

faith,

and receiving

its

axioms

expands by the procession of truth from

truth.

From what

has been said

many

conclusions follow,

which can only be stated now by way of propositions.

To discuss them would need many chapters. It is
evident
1

First, that the highest

and most perfect operation

of the reason in respect to revelation presupposes the

reception of revelation by faith, of which the whole

structure of scientific theology, and the contempla-

tion of truth by the intellect illuminated by faith,

are both example
2.

and

proof.

Secondly, that the highest discursive powers of

the reason are developed by revelation, which elevates

from the contemplation of the first principles and

axioms of truth in the natural order to a higher and

it

wider sphere, unattainable by the reason without

faith.
3.

Thirdly, that reason

is

not the source nor the

measure of supernatural truth

intrinsic credibility.
1

nor the test of

its

This principle has been lately

In the Brief of Pius IX. to the ArchLishop of Munich the conis

'Hinc dubitare nolumus, quin
expressly condemned.

trary to this

ipsius eonventua viri

commemoratam veritatem

noscentes ac pro

uno eodemquc tempore plane rejicero ac reprobare voluerint

recentem illani ac prseposteram philosophandi rationem, quae etiamsi

fitentes

TO THE

HUMAN KEASON.

123

affirmed by Pius IX. in the recent Brief to the Arch-

bishop of Munich.
4. Fourthly, that

the Church alone, by Divine illu-

mination and assistance, knows, teaches, and authoritatively imposes belief in matters of revealed truth.
5. Fifthly,

that theological science, or the operation

of reason and criticism upon revealed truth, does not

generate faith

but that faith, through the operations

of the illuminated reason, acting as a disciple and

not as a
6.

may

critic,

Sixthly, that if theology in its highest form

not be properly called science, by reason of the

obscurity of

and

generates theological science.

its

principles

biblical criticism

much

may

less

historical

be elevated to the character of

science.
7.

Seventhly, that to erect historical and biblical

criticism, or theology founded

which

is

on

into a science

it,

to form the public opinion of the Church, to

control the hierarchy, and to conform to itself even

dirinam rerelationem vehiti historicum factum admittat, tamen ineffabiles veritates ab ipsa divina revelatione propositas kunu.nae
rationis investigationibus supponit, perinde ac si illae veritates rationi
subjects essent, vel ratio suis viribus et principiis posset consequi

intelligentiam et scientiara

omnium supernarum

nostrse veritatum, et mysteriorum, qufe ita supra

sunt, ut haec

nunquam

effici

possit idonea ad

ilia

sanctissimse fidei

humanam rationem
suis viribus, et

naturalibus suis principiis intelligenda, aut demonstranda.'

PP. IX. ad Archiep. Monac. Dec. 21, 1863.

ex

Litt. Pii

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

124

the judgment of the Holy See,

is

to invert the whole

order of the Divine procedure which has committed

the custody and enunciation of revealed truth to the

Church, in
8.

its office

of witness, judge, and teacher.

Eighthly, that the Church, acting judicially and

the creator of theological science, and

magisterially,

is

controls it

its decisions,

9.

by

which are

infallible.

Ninthly, that the converse of this would subor-

dinate the Ecclesia docens to the Ecclesia discens.

10. Tenthly, that this subordination of the objective

faith

and science of the Ecclesia docens to the sub-

jective faith
is

and science of

its

individual

members

of the nature of Grnosticism, Illuminism, and of

Rationalism.
11. Eleventhly, that in the ultimate analysis, this

procedure would constitute the critical science of the

natural reason as

the coordinate test of revealed

truth by the side of the supernatural discernment of

the Church.

Though

I cannot enter

positions now,

am

upon any of these pro-

unwilling to pass over a passage

of remarkable beauty bearing on this principle in the

works of
'

S. Francis of Sales.

In a general council, the controverted points of

first proposed, and theological arguments

doctrine are

are employed to discover the truth.

These matters

TO THE

HUMAN REASON.

125

having been discussed, the bishops, and particularly

the Pope
is

who

is

their head, conclude

and as soon as they have pro-

to be believed;

nounced,

must

all

and decree what

We

acquiesce fully in their decision.

observe, that this submission

is

not founded

on the reasons which have been alleged in the preceding argument, but on the authority of the Holy
Ghost, who, presiding invisibly at the council, has
concluded, determined, and decreed by the

His ministers,

whom He

the Church.

The arguments and

mouth

of

has established pastors of

discussions are

but the decision and acquiescence, by which they are terminated, take place in
the sanctuary, where the Holy Spirit specially resides,
carried on in the porch

animating the body of the Church, and speaking by

the mouth of the bishops, according to the promise
of the

Son of God.'

12. Twelfthly, that if coordinate, unless submissive,

the critical reason makes itself superior.

13. Thirteenthly, that

the superior test

ulti-

is

mately the sole test of truth, which would be thereby

placed in what is called the scientific reason, that is
to say, of individuals.
14. Fourteenthly, that the scientific reason

be thereby constituted
1

S.

as the ultimate

would

measure and

Francis of Sales, Treatise on the Love of God,

b.

ii.

c.

xix.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

12G

source of truth, which

the

method

and Eeviews'

is

is

down

laid

pure Rationalism, of which

in the

work

the most recent example

I conclude, then, as I

Essays
us.

among

is

the

and that the

and to a divine

relation of docility to divine light

is

'

began, that the reason

disciple, not the critic, of revelation

guide

called

not only consistent with the elevation and

development of the human intellect, but the true

and only condition of its highest powers and of its
scientific

history

perfection.

and

state of

And

of this the intellectual

Christendom

evidence.

is

my meaning than by words

used on the same subject on another occasion

cannot better express

'

In a word,

it

is

not science which

generates
but faith which generates science by the aid
of the reason illuminated by revelation.
In what

faith,

I have hitherto

said,

have assumed one truth

undeniable and axiomatic, namely, that God

has revealed Himself; that He has committed this
as

revelation

to

His Church

and that

He

both His revelation and His Church in

preserves

all

ages by

His own presence and assistance from all error in

faith and morals. Now, inasmuch as certain primary
truths which may be naturally known of God and
the soul, and

of the

relations

God, and of man with man

that

of
is,

the

soul

with

certain truths

TO THE

HUMAN REASON.

127

discoverable also in the order of nature

by philosophy are taken

up

into

by reason or
and incorporated

with the revelation of Grod, the Church, therefore,

first principles of rational philosophy
possesses the
and of natural ethics, both for individuals and for

And, inasmuch

society.

as these principles are the

of philosophy and natural

great regulating truths
natural
politics, the Church has
morality, including

a voice, a testimony, and a jurisdiction within these

I do not affirm the
provinces of natural knowledge.
Church to be a philosophical authority, but I may
affirm it to be a witness in philosophy.

when we come

to treat of Christian

Much more

philosophy or the

Theodic8ea,or Christian morals and Christian politics;

for these are no more than the truths of nature
stock of revelation, and elevated
grafted upon the
to a supernatural perfection. To exclude the discern-

ment and
politics,

natural
it

is

voice of the Church from philosophy and

to degrade both

order.

First,

deprives them

evidence.

theologians

it

by reducing them to the

pollards them, and next,

of the corroboration of a higher

Against this the whole array of Catholic

and philosophers has always contended.

of
They have maintained thatthetradition theological

and ethical knowledge

a unity in itself

is

divinely preserved, and has

that there

is

a true traditive philo-

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

128

sophy running down in the same channel with the

divine tradition of faith, recognised by faith,

known

by the light of nature, and guarded by the circle of

supernatural truths by which faith has surrounded
it.

In saying

bility

this, I

am

not extending the infalli-

of the Church to philosophical or political

questions apart from their contact with revelation

but affirming only that the radical truths of the

natural order have become rooted in the substance of

and are guaranteed to us by the witness and

So likewise, as the laws of
custody of the Church.
faith,

Christian civilisation are the laws of natural morality

elevated by the Christian law, which is expounded

and applied by the Church, there is a tradition both
of private and public ethics
or, in other words, of

morality and jurisprudence

all

which forms the basis of

personal duty, and of all political justice.

In

this, again, the Church has a discernment, and there-

fore a voice.

distribution of labour in the culti-

prudent and
A division of authority and an exclusion
intelligible.
of the Church from science is not only a dismemvation

of

all

provinces of truth

is

berment of the kingdom of truth, but a forcible

rending of certain truths from their highest evidence.
Witness the treatment of the question whether the
existence of God can be proved and whether God

HUMAN EEASON.

TO THE

129

can be known by natural reason in the hands of

those who turn their backs upon the tradition of evidence in the universal Church.

Unless revelation be

illusion, the voice of the Church

an

these higher provinces of

must be heard in
" New-

human knowledge.

" cannot
dispense with
the metaphysician, nor the metaphysician with us."

Newman

ton," as Dr.

says,

Into cosmogony the Church must enter by the doctrine of creation ; into natural theology, by the

and

doctrine of the existence

into ethics,

perfections of

God

by the doctrine of the cardinal virtues

by the indissolubility of marriage, the

root of human society, as divorce is its dissolution.
into politics,

And by

this

interpenetration and interweaving of

teaching the

its

self.

Church binds

They meet in

it as

in

all

their

sciences to

proper

it-

centre.

As the sovereign power which runs into all provinces unites them in one empire, so the voice and witness of the Church unites and binds all sciences in
one.
4

It is the parcelling

and morselling out of

and this disintegration of the

tradition of

science,

truth,

which has reduced the intellectual culture of England

to its present fragmentary and contentious state.

Not only

errors are generated, but truths are set in

opposition

science

and revelation are supposed to

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

130

be at variance, and revelation to be the weaker side

of

human knowledge.
'

The Church has an

Its

original revelation.
fall

within this limit

reach beyond

it.

knowledge of the
definitions of Divine Faith

infallible

but

its infallible

The Church

judgments

possesses a knowledge

of truth which belongs also to the natural order.

The

existence of

God

His

power, goodness, and

the moral law written in the conscience

perfections
are truths of the natural order which

are declared

by revelation, and recorded in Holy Scripture.

These truths the Church knows by a twofold light
also

by the supernatural light of revelation, and by the

all men possess.
In the Church

natural light which

this natural light is concentrated as in a focus.

great endowment

common

of

sense

communis sensus generis humcmi,

licfht

order

and evidence

that

the

is,

The
the

maximum of

for certain truths of the natural

resides eminently in the collective intelligence

of the Church; that

the faithful, which

to say, in the intelligence of

is

is

the seat of

its

passive infal-

libility, and in the intelligence of the pastors, or the

Magisterium Eeclesice, which is the organ of its

active infallibility.

not more evident to

rest of

mankind, to

That two and two make^four, is

the Catholic Church than to the
S.

Thomas

or S. Bonaventura,

TO THE HUMAX REASOX.

But that (rod

than to Spinoza and Comte.

and that
truths,

man

and

131
exists,

responsible, because free, are moral

is

for the perception of

moral truths, even

of the natural order, a moral discernment

is

needed

and the moral discernment of the Church, even of

natural truths,

is,

I maintain, incomparably higher

than the moral discernment of the mass of mankind,

by virtue of its elevation to greater purity and conformity to the laws of nature
*

The highest

object of

itself.

human

theology, properly so called,

is

science

is

Gfod

and

the science of His

nature and perfections, the radiance which surrounds

" the Father of
lights, in whom is no change, neither

Springing from this central

science flow the sciences of the works of Grod, in

shadow of

vicissitude."

nature and in grace

and under the former

fall

not

only the physical sciences, but those which relate

to

man and

Now, the

action

as morals, politics,

and

history.

revelation Gfod has given us rests for its

centre upon

God Himself, but

a circumference within which

in its course describes

many

truths of the

natural order relating both to the world and to

are included.

man

These the Church knows, not only by

natural light, but by Divine revelation, and declares

by Divine

assistance.

But

these primary truths of

the natural order are axioms and principles of the

K
?.

132

THE KELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

sciences within which they properly fall

and these

truths of philosophy belong also to the domain of

faith.

The same

of science

truths are the object of faith and

they are the links which couple these

sciences to revelation.

How,

then, can these sciences

be separated from their relation to revealed truth

without a false procedure ? No Catholic could so
separate them, for these truths enter within the

dogma

No

of faith.

Scripture could do

No mere

"Writ.

who

believes in

Holy

so, for they are included in

Holy

Christian

philosopher could do

so, for

thereby

he would discard and perhaps place himself in opposition and discord with the maximum of evidence

which

is

attainable on these primary verities,

therefore with the

common

tendom, but of mankind.

and

sense not only of Chris-

In this I

am

not advocat-

ing a mixture or confusion of religion and philosophy,

" De
which, as Lord Bacon says in his work
Aug-

mentis

Scientiarum," will undoubtedly

heretical religion,

make an

and an imaginary and fabulous phi-

but affirming

that certain primary truths

and ethical philosophy are delivered
us by revelation, and that we' cannot neglect them

losophy,

of both physical
to

as our starting-points in such sciences without a false

procedure and a palpable forfeiture of truth. Such

verities are, for instance, the existence of Grod, the

TO THE

HUMAN REASON.

133

creation of the world, the freedom of the will, the

moral

Lord
of the conscience, and the like.
" There
be
veins
and
lines,
may
says again,

office

Bacon

but not sections or separations," in the great conAll truths alike are susceptible of

tinent of Truth.
scientific

method, and

all

of a religious treatment.

men

The

father of

call

him, so severe and imperious in maintaining the

and process of science, is not the

modern philosophy,

as

of our day

distinct province

peremptory and absolute as to the unity of all

truth and the vital relation of all true science to the

less

Divine philosophy of revelation.'

"We are

ment
of

as little dazzled

by the intellectual develop-

of the Anticatholic science as

modern democracy.

before our eyes.

And

We see

by the pretensions

both going to pieces

ex parte intellectus

et

ex parte

voluntatis we submit ourselves to the Church of

(rod, the

mother and mistress of Christian science

guide and only

which
spring from
redemption from the aberrations
the reason, and the confusions which spring from the

and Christian

will of

man.

society, as our only

THE KELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

134

CHAPTEE

III.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST TO THE LETTER

OF SCRIPTURE.

The two
for ever

divine truths which reign, and will reign

over the whole

theology, are

kingdom

of faith

and of

the infallibility of the Church, and

the inspiration of the Scripture

or, in

other words,

the relation of the Holy Spirit of Grod to the

Word

of Grod written and unwritten.

These two divine truths, when contemplated as

or rather these two divine facts, when condoctrines

templated in the supernatural order of grace

have

had, like other dogmas, their successive periods of

incipient

con-

will probably

have

their last analysis,

and

simple affirmation and simple belief

and
troversy and partial analysis
their formal contradiction,

their final scientific definition.

The

history of the infallibility of the Church

and

of the inspiration of Holy Scripture will then be

written like as the history of the Immaculate Con-

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

ception,

135~

which has now been closed by the dogmatic

Bull of Pius IX.

It

is

far

from

my thoughts

to pretend to give here

the history of so great and delicate a doctrine as

Inspiration, but it

may

not be unseasonable to trace

a slight outline of a subject which has

upon

now

fixed

an anxious attention in our country

The Protestant Eeformation staked

itself

at this time.
its

existence

upon the Bible

and as Protestants have

extensively denied or undermined its inspiration, no

other subject can be so vital to their religion, or more

opportune for us.

The Church
into

much

not a

England has lately been thrown

excitement, and public opinion has been
of

little scandalised,

by the appearance of works

denying in great part the inspiration of

ture.

And

yet there

is

Error has

such errors.

Holy Scrip-

nothing new in the

its

periodic times.

rise

of

What

is

passing now, has returned in every century, almost

It is not new to the Catholic
in every generation.

Church to have to combat with the depravers of

Holy Writ for there has been a line and succession
;

of gainsayers

who have denied the Divine

veracity

and authenticity, either in whole or in part, of the

written

Word

of Grod.

Even

in the lifetime of S.

^John the Cerinthians rejected

.

all

the

New

Testa-

THE KELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

136

ment except the Gospel

of S.

Matthew and the Book

In the second century, the Carpocratians

Marcion

of Acts.

rejected the whole of the Old Testament

and Cerdon denounced

it as

the fabrication of an evil

deity, and acknowledged only the Grospel of S. Luke

and the Epistles to Timothy and Titus. In the third

century the Archontici rejected the Old Testament

the Apellitce, the Severiani, and the Eucharitse rejected most of the Old Testament and of the New.

In the fourth, the Alogi, the Gnostics, and the

Manichgeans rejected the greater part both of the
Jewish and of the Christian Scriptures. Faustus
the Manichsean, and others, against

and

S.

turies,

whom S. Ambrose

Augustine wrote in the fourth and fifth cenaccused the Old Testament of immorality,

contradiction, and intrinsic incredibility, as

have done

since.

The Apocryphi

Prophets and Apostles.

In the eighth century, the

Albanenses, Bajolenses, Concordenses

only to students

Herman

others

received only the

repeated

names

known

the errors of Marcion.

Kissuich, in the fifteenth century, rejected

the whole of Scripture as imperfect and useless

David Georgius revived this impiety in the sixteenth

Luther and his followers rejected the
century.
Epistle of S. James, the Hebrews, the third of S.

John, the second of S. Peter, and the Apocalypse^

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

137

The Libertini held all the Scriptures to be fables.

The Ambrosians, claiming for themselves divine revelations, despised both the

New.

Old Testament and the

This brings us to the seventeenth century, in

which modern

infidelity

began to appear, and the

In the eighteenth

Eationalistic criticism to arise.

and the present century there is no book of the Old

New Testament which has not been rejected by

or

some among the

errors
is

to

whom

the modern

on the subject of Inspiration may be ascribed

He

reduced to a complete statethe objections which can be brought against

Spinoza.

ment

Eationalistic or Neologian critics

The author

of Germany.

all

first

He

was the father of the sceptical criticism

which in the seventeenth century inundated Holland

it.

and Germany, and found

It

is

its

way over

into England.

a remarkable fact that Schleiermacher, whose

writings have extensively propagated the Eationalistic

movement both in Germany and in England, sacrificed

a lock of his hair as a token of pious veneration on
the grave of Spinoza.

After Spinoza,

1685, published his letters entitled

Le

Clerc, in

'Sentimens de

quelques Theologiens de Hollande,' which excited

a great sensation, especially in England.

a mere reflection of Spinoza.

1

Lee On

Inspiration,

App.

C. p. 450.

They were

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

138
It

is,

therefore,

no new

thing- in the history of the

Church, nor, indeed, in the history of England since

the Reformation. From the Deistical writers down
to

Thomas Paine,

there has never wanted a succes-

sion of critics and objectors

who have

extrinsic or intrinsic authority of

So

assailed the

Holy Scripture.

no new thing. But in one aspect, inIt is new to find this

altogether new.

far it is

deed,

it is

form of scepticism put forth by writers of eminence

for dignity and personal excellence, and mental cultivation, in the

Church of England; by men

too,

who

profess not only a faith in Christianity, but

Hitherto these
fidelity to the Anglican Church.
still

forms of sceptical unbelief have worked outside

the Church of England, and in hostility against
it.

Now

it is

certain that a Rationalistic school imported from

they are within, and professing to be of it

and to serve it. Unpalatable as the truth may be,

Gfermany has established

England

that

cultivated

its writers

itself

within the Church of

are highly respectable

men, and that though they may be few,

yet the influence of their opinions

spread, and that a very general

among the

can Church.

certainly a

This

is

is

already widely

sympathy with them

already extends itself

gether new.

and

laity of the Angli-

phenomenon

alto-

TO THE LETTER OF SCEIPTUEE.

139

Before entering upon the subject of this chapter,,

it

would seem, therefore,

to

be seasonable to examine

briefly the present state of the subject of Inspiration

Church of England, and contrast with it the

teaching of the Catholic Church upon this point.
in the

And

first,

Church of Engto be remembered that

as to the doctrine of the

land on Inspiration,

it

is

though the Canon of Scripture was altered by the

Anglican Eeformation, the subject of Inspiration was
The traditional teaching of the
hardly discussed.
Theology, with

Catholic
therefore

various opinions, was

its

The

passively retained.

earlier writers,

such as Hooker, repeat the traditional formulas respecting the inspiration and veracity of Holy Scripture.

Hooker's words are,

employed them

He

(that

is,

Grod) so

(the Prophets) in this heavenly work,

that they neither spake nor wrote a word of their

own, but uttered syllable by syllable as the Spirit

l
Such was more or less
put it into their mouths.'
the tone of the chief Anglican writers for a century
after the Reformation.

Perhaps the best example of the Anglican teaching

on the subject will be found in Whitby's genera
Preface to his 'Paraphrase of the Grospels.'
opinion

is

as follows.
1

Works,

vol.

He
iii.

His

begins by adopting the

p. 62.

Ed. Keble.

THE EELATION OE THE HOLY GHOST

140

distinction of the Jewish

Church between the

phets' and the 'Chetiibin,'or holy writers,

between the

fore
'

'

'

Pro-

and there-

inspiration of suggestion

'

and the

inspiration of direction.'

He
1.

then lays down

First, that

where there was no antecedent know-

ledge of the matter to be written, an inspiration of

suggestion was vouchsafed to the Apostles

where such knowledge did antecedently

but that

exist, there

was only an inspiration exciting them to write such

matters, and directing them in the writing so as to
preclude
2.

all error.

Secondly, that in writing those things which were

not antecedently known to them, either by natural

reason including education, or previous revelation
e.g.

the Incarnation, the vocation of the Gentiles, the

apostacy of the latter times, the prophecies of the

Apocalypse,

they had

an immediate suggestion of

the Holy Spirit.

3. Thirdly, that in all

other matters they were

directed so as to preclude error, and to confirm the

truth whether by illumination in the meaning of the

previous revelation, or by reasoning.

4.

Fourthly, that in the historical parts of the

Testament they were directed in

all

that

is

New

necessary

to the truth of the facts related, but not as to the

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

141

order or accessories of such events, unless these things

affected the truth of the facts.
5. Fifthly,

that in relating the words or discourses

of our Lord and of others, they were directed

so as

to preclude all error as to the substance, but not so

as to reproduce the words.
6. Lastly, that the inspiration or divine assistance

of the sacred writers was such as

'

will

assure us of

the truth of what they write, whether by inspiration

of suggestion, or direction only

but not such as

would imply that their very words were dictated, or

them, by the Holy Ghost.'

their phrases suggested to

In Bishop Burnet
explicit tone.

He

may be
'

says,

seen a somewhat less

The laying down a scheme

that asserts an immediate inspiration, which goes to

the style, and to every

error

tittle,

to have crept into

and that denies any

any of

the copies, as it

seems on the one hand to raise the honour of Scripit lies open on the other hand

ture very highly, so

to great difficulties,

which seem insuperable on that

hypothesis.'

Such was the current teaching of the most respectable class of Anglican divines,
1

men

of true learning

Whitby's Paraphrase, Gen. Pref. pp. 5-7. Ed. London, 1844.

Burnet, Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles, p. 117. Ed.

Oxford.

'

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GIIOST

142

sound judgment, in the best century of the

Church of England. But I need quote no more.

arid of

Let us now examine one or two of the modern

opinions on the same subject.

A member
follows

Him

of the University of Oxford writes as

The Bible

every chapter of
it,

is

none other than the voice of

Every book of it,

every verse of it, every word of

that sitteth upon the throne.

it,

every syllable of

it,

it, is

the direct

A member

of Trinity

every letter of

utterance of the Most High.'

College, Dublin, writes as follows

'

The opinion

that the subject-matter alone of the Bible proceeded

from the Holy Spirit, while its language was left to

the unaided choice of the various writers, amounts to
that fantastic notion which

many

theories of Inspiration

is
;

the grand fallacy of

namely, that two dif-

ferent spiritual agencies were in operation, one of

which produced the phraseology in

its outward form,

while the other created within the soul the conceptions and thoughts of which such phraseology was

The Holy

on the contrary,
as the productive principle, embraces the entire
the expression.

Spirit,

whom He inspires, rendering their

Word of (rod. The entire substance

activity of those

language the

Burgon, Inspiration and Interpretation of HoJy Scripture, p. 89,

quoted by Dr. Colonso, part 1. p. 6.
1

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

and form of Scripture,

whether

143

resulting

from

revelation or natural knowledge, are thus blended

together into one harmonious whole.'

Once more.

'

An inspired work
'

Dr. Arnold writes as follows

is

supposed to mean a work to which Grod has com-

municated His own perfections ;

error or defect of any kind in it
that which

is

is

inconceivable, and

other than perfect in all points cannot

This

be inspired.

so that the slightest

is

the unwarrantable interpretation

of the word Inspiration.

and many of our

Surely

many

of our words

actions are spoken and done

by the
Yet does the Holy
communicate to us His own

inspiration of God's Spirit.

Spirit so inspire us as to

Are our best works or words utterly free

from error or from sin ? 2 Mr. Jowett, in his wellperfections

'

known Essay on the 'Interpretation of Scripture,' after

-reciting the

commonly-received theories of Inspira-

tion, proceeds as follows

Nor
'

for

or supernatural views of Inspiration

dation in the Grospels or Epistles.

any of the higher

is

there any foun-

There

is

no appear-

ance in their writings that the Evangelists or Apostles

ariy inward gift, or were subject to any power

had

external to

"

its

them different from that of preaching

Lee On the Inspiration of Holy Scripture, pp. 32,

^mold's Sermons, quoted by Stanley, The Bible,
Substance, Preface,

vii. viii. ix.

or

33.
its

Form,

and,

144

THE KELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

teaching which they daily exercised

nor do they
anywhere lead us to suppose that they were free
;

from error or infirmity.

The nature of Inspiration can only be known from the examination of
.

There

Scripture.

no other source to which we can

is

turn for information

and we have no right to assume

some imaginary doctrine of Inspiration

Eoman

fallibility of the

question

What

is

like the in-

Catholic Church.

Inspiration

the

To the

first

answer

is, That idea of Scripture which we gather

Dr Williams says, * In
from the knowledge of it.'

therefore

the Bible, as an expression of devout reason, and

be read with reason in freedom, he

therefore to

[Bunsen]

finds a record of the spiritual giants

experience generated

whose

the religious atmosphere

we

breathe.'

I do not undertake to do

more than

recite these

opinions of clergymen of the Church of England.

It is not for us to say

trine of that

body

what

but

it

is

the authoritative doc-

has been recently declared

by the highest Ecclesiastical tribunal, that the views

of inspiration last given ^are not inconsistent with
the Anglican formularies.

himself as follows:

Dr. Lushington expressed

'As to the liberty of the Anglican

clergy to examine and determine the text of Scrip'

Essays and Reviews, pp. 345, 347.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

ture, I exceedingly

beyond the

extended

doubt

limits

145

if this liberty

have

can be

mentioned,

namely, certain verses or parts of Scripture. I think

it could not be permitted to a clergyman to reject
the whole of one of the books of Scripture.'
It is evident

from the above quotations that the

theory of Inspiration

among many prominent men

the Anglican Church has been moving

German Neology.
now turn to the Catholic

in

in the direc-

tion of the

Let us

The

doctrine.

Catholic Church has expressed itself authoritatively

on the subject of Holy Scripture and

character in the following points
1

are

Divine

That the writings of the Prophets and Apostles

Holy Scripture

sacred
'

its

books

or in other words, that certain

exist in

its

'

custody

of Christ

Veritas et disciplina

is

in

which the

partly contained

et disciplinam contineri
perspiciens banc veritatem
2
in libris scriptis et sine scripto traditionibus.'
'

2.

That (rod

is

the Author of these sacred books.

It declares both the books

and the traditions to be

Sancto dictante,' by
given to the Church, Spiritu
(rod Himself, and that He is the Author of all such
'

books and traditions, both of the Old and of the

1

JudgmentBishop

of Salisbury versus Williams,

Council. Trid. sess. iv.

p. 16.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

14G

New

Testament

'
:

omnes

libros tain Veteris

quam

Novi Testamenti, quum utriusque unus Deus

auctor.'

That the sacred books are

3.

sit

so

in

many

number,
and are such by name
that is, the catalogue or
canon of the Old and New Testament. The canon
;

Council of Trent

declared by the

that

is

of the

Council of Florence in the fourteenth century, of

Constantinople in the sixth, of Carthage in the
fourth,

and of the

Innocent and
4.

That these books in their

'

'

libros

integros

to be inspired,

cum omnibus

and to have Grod

Author, which excludes the

part of such books

is

suis

merely of

human

for their

that

supposition

and therefore that falsehood or

any

authorship,

error can be found in

This declaration, though

them.

and with

integrity,

are to be held as sacred and canonical

partibus,
is,

of S.

declarations

S. Cfelasius.

all their parts

that

Pontifical

made

explicitly of

the Latin version called the Vulgate, applies a fortiori

to the
also
5.

Holy Scriptures

It

objective sumptas.

is

made

under anathema.

That the Latin version

authentic,

These

'

called the Vulgate is

pro authentica habeatur.'

five

points

are,

all

believe,

that the

Catholic Church has authoritatively declared.

1

Coiicil. Trid. sess. iv.

Ibid.

To

TO THE LETTER OP SCRIPTURE.

Catholic yields

these every

these nothing

But beyond

assent.

And whatsoever

of obligation.

is

147

may add belongs to the region, not of faith, but of

theology, not of the Councils and Pontiffs, but of
the Schools.

And

first

we

will begin with the period of simple

faith.

The

Catholic Church, in inheriting the canon of

the Hebrew and of the Hellenistic books from the

synagogue, inherited with them the belief of inspiration current among the Jews, by whom the operations
of the Divine Spirit were believed to extend to the

whole substance and form, the sense and the

of

Holy Scripture.
Such was evidently the

The

writers.

letter,

belief of the early Christian

writings of the Fathers both of the

East and West show that they extended the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to the whole of Scripture,

both to

its

substance and to

its

form

so that it is

altogether pervaded by the mind, voice, aud authority

of Grod.

For instance,

S.

Irenosus

are perfect, being dictated

by His
1

by the

Word

Scriptures

of Grod

and

Spirit.'

'

Scripturse

ejus

The

'

says,

dictse.'

quidem

perfectse sunt, quippe a

S. Iren. Cont. Hcer. lib.

l 2

ii.

Verbo Dei

cap. 28,

al.

47.

et Spirito.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

148

Macarius says, ' God the King sent the Holy

men.'
Scriptures as His epistles to
S.

John Chrysostom

S.

says,

What things the

Scrip-

Lord promulgated.' 2 Again,

in Scripture we must thoroughly ex-

tures promulgate, the

1

All that

amine

for all are dictated

The

'

them

written in

is

nothing

mouth

is

of the Prophet

is

the

by the Holy
in vain.'

mouth

and

Grhost,
'

Again,

of Grod.'

The

Again,

Divine Scripture declares nothing vaguely or

without intention, but every syllable and every point

5
Not an iota, not
has some mystery hidden in it.'
a point,
'

in

Scripture

is

there in vain.

Nothing in the Divine Scriptures

is

Tas Oeias yoacpas

"A 8e

Chrys.
3

at

De

Ovtw

wffirep

Again,

superfluous, for

These might

they are dictated by the Holy Grhost.'

tviffroXas airiaroAcv 5 /3aai\evs

Macar. Horn, xxxix. p. 476.

Tavra 6 8e(nr6rris
ypacpal (pdiyyovrai,

toTs avdpu'irois.

dibs

S.

Lazaro, Concio
Kal iv

iv. torn. i. p.

reus Belcus ypa<pais, lura

aAAa Travra SiepevvucrQai

atfliuov Trapa.5pap.e7v,

rrdvra Upryrai, na\

ovSlv irapeXKOV iv avrals.

torn. viii. p. 206.

4
Oi/tco Kal to crip-a

rwv

Tpo<p7}Tuiv,

itpBiy^aro.

S.

755.
'iv

t)

XPT

pxav tcepaiav owe

Trvivfiari

yap

ayico

Horn. XXXVt. in Joan.

arop-a tffri rov 6eov.

Acta Apost. torn. ix. p. 159.

5
OvSiv yap air\a>s Kal cos trvx^v (pOiyyerai
Kav ffvAAaPr] Tvyx&vr), Kav Kepdia pia, x
Horn, xviii. in Gen. torn. iv. p. 156.
6r)(ravp6v.

Horn,

xiv. in

OuSe

ypa<p7),

Gen.

7}

i)

6ela ypa<p7],

Tlv *

aAAa

iyK(Kpvp.p.ivov

yap ciAA.a/3r/, oi5e Kepaia p.ia iarlv iyK(ip.ivri irapa rri

pM iroXvs iva-w6Ktnai 6-r)<ravpbs iv t< fiddet, Horn. xxi. in

torn. iv. p. 180.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

149

be extended to any length. S. Basil says, 'Let

therefore the Scriptures, which are inspired of God,
decide for

us.'

Gregory of Nazianzum

S.

we who extend the

diligence

(i.e.

says,

'But

the operation) of

the Spirit even to every, the least point and line (of
the Scriptures) will never grant, for it is not right

we

even the least actions by them

commemorated were written without intention.' 2
S.

that

should,

Gregory Nyssen

'

says,

Whatever the Sacred Scrip-

tures declare are the utterances of the

Holy Ghost.

Therefore, the holy Prophets filled by

God

are in-

spired by the power of the Holy Ghost, and the

whole of Scripture is therefore said to be divinely
3
I will only add one more.
S. John
inspired.'

Damascene

'

says,

The Law, Prophets, Evangelists

and Apostles, Pastors and Doctors, spoke by the Holy

so that the whole Scripture inspired by God

Ghost

without doubt
1

torn.

iii.

iivi\\j.rt

"0<ra.7] 6eia

Kal

Sta.

ii.

Tvxovcrrjs

ypacp^

efoai

Ep. 189,

Ae'-yei,

ypa<p7)

tov

Kepaias Kal ypa/Afxris

ttot Se^6/u.e0a, ov

eiKTJ ffirovdacrBrivai.

o~ia.<jtoQr\vo.i.

tovto iruaa

ifiirvevo-eais

torn.

ttjs

t^v aKpijiziav eXuovres, ov

Tas e\axTTas7rpa|e<s
irapSvTos

S. Basilius,

p. 277.

8e ol Kal /xe'xp'

'Hjuei?

Trvev/xaros

'H 6e6irvevcrTos rjiuf SiaiTrjcrarco ypacpii.

ad Eustath.

useful.'

is

yap

uaiov, iu8e

to7s avaypatyacri, Kal/j.exP l tov

Greg. Nazian. Orat. ii. torn. i. p. 60.

tov irvev/xaTos eiai tov ay lov (pcevai.
.
,

S.

Oeo-TrvevffTos Ae'-yerat,

Sidao-Ka\iav.

S.

8ia

Greg. Nyss. Orat.

vi.

rb

tjjs

Betas

emit. Eunorn.

p. 605.

Aia irvevftaTOs

to'ivvv ayiov, oVe v6/xos Kat ol irpo<priTai, eiiayyeAiff-

THE RELATION OP THE HOLY GHOST

150

For the Latin Fathers, passages might be inde-

The

finitely multiplied.

following- will suffice.

'

Augustine says of the Scripture,

'

'

speaks.'
'

God,

God.'

The

faith wavers if the authority of the

is

shaken.'

'

ascribe to it

is

He

the Holy Ghost.

who

dictated

them

are labouring

Gregory the Great says,

things

'

The Author of the

therefore wrote these

He Him-

to be written.

wrote who inspired them in the act of writing. 5

self

Tdi Kal airScrroXoi, Kai

Orth.

iraaa to'lvvv

iAaXijffav kol SiSdrTKCtAoi.

iroi/j.4ves

GeoiruevaTos, -wavrus Kal axpeAiixos.

ypcxpl)

falsehood.'

any

They

Holy Scripture, who

to destroy the authority of the

book

God Himself

the adorable style and pen of the Spirit of

Divine Scriptures

S.

it

the handwriting of

is

Holy Scripture

In

S.

S.

Joan, Damas.

lib. iv. cap. 17.

homo, nompe quod Scriptura men

'

elicit,

ego

dico.'

Be

Fid.

S.

Aug.

quod

p. 241.
Scriptura Dei manere debet, et quoddam chirographum Dei,
omnes transeuntes legerent.' Enarrat. in Psal. c.xiiv. cap. 17,

torn.

i.

Confess, lib. xiii. cap. 44, torn.

2

'

p. 1620.

Avidissimc arripui venerabilem stilum Spiritus

vii. 27, torn.

4

'

Ut

sanctffi

torn.

i.

A-i.

tui.'

Confess.

p. 143.

'Titubabit

auctoritas.'
5

i.

autem

Be Bod.

si

fides,

Christ,

i.

divinarum Scriptura rum vacillat

41, torn.

iii.

p. 18.

nonverum dixisse.
auctoritatem frangere conantur.' Be Sanct.
dicant hocauctoremlibri

Scriptures

Virg. cap. 17,

p. 348.

'Auctorlibri Spiritus Sanctus fideliter credatur. Ipso igituB

haec scripsit, qui scribenda dictavit. Ipse scripsit qui ct in illius
opere inspirator extitit, et per scribentis vocem imitanda ad nos ejus
facta transmisit.'
S. Greg. Moral, in Job. pracf. i. 2, torn. i. p. 7.

TO THE LETTER OP SCRIPTURE.

151

"Whatsoever the Fathers declare in the sacred oracles,

they declare not from themselves, but they received

them from

Grod.'

'

Ambrose, speaking of the sacred authors, says,

They wrote not by art, but by grace. For they
S.

wrote those things which the Spirit gave them to

2

speak.'

Such are the statements of three of the four great

Doctors of the Church.
It is clear that these Fathers

had no thought of

error or uncertainty in the sacred text, but extended

the dictation of the Holy Spirit to the whole extent

of the books

Old and

of the

New Testament

as

simply the Word of Grod. They may

Church in the ages
represent the mind of the whole

be taken to

which went before the period of controversy as to

the nature of Inspiration.

The next period of the

as to the nature

subject

is

that of analysis

and limits of Inspiration.

am

But

as I

its history, all I will

not pretending to write

attempt is to state the two opinions which exist
1

'

Patres quidquid per sacra eloquia loquuntur non a semetipsis

Domino acccperunt.' III. in prim. Beg. i. 8, torn. iii. pars 2,

sed a

p. 115.
2

'

Non secundum artem

scripserunt, sed

secundum gratiam, quae

enim quae Spiritus

super omnem artem est scripserunt
dabat.' S. Amb. Ep. viii. 1, torn. iii. p. 817.
;

iis

loqui

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

152

among

Catholic theologians since the

Council of

Trent.
1.

The

that of the older writers,

first is

tain that every particle

who main-

and word of the Canonical

books was written by the dictation of the Holy Spirit.

Such, as I have shown, was certainly the language

I will not say the opinion

of most of the Fathers

both of the East and of the West.

New

the

They spoke of

Testament much as the Elder Church spoke

not the opinion

of the Old.

I say the language

because

evident that they were occupied with

it is

the sole intention of affirming the Canonical books

to be the "Word of (rod, without entering analytically
into the questions which a later criticism forced

upon

the Scholastic theologians.

This

gomena

opinion
to his

is

stated by Habert in the Prole-

Theology as follows

'
:

Tostatus on

Numbers, chap, xi., Estius on 2 Timothy, chap, iii.,

and many theologians of weight, affirm that every
l

word was inspired and dictated by the Holy Spirit,

so that the composition and style of the language is
to be ascribed to

Him.

The Faculties

of Louvain

Recte igittir et verissime ex hoc loco stal uitur omnem Scripturam

sacram ct canonicam Spiritu Sancto dictante esse conscriptam ita
uimirum ut non solum sententiaa sed et verba singula et verborum
1

'

Deo tanquam per semetipsum loquente

Comm. in. II, Tim. Hi, 16, torn. ii. p. 826.

ordo, ac tota dispositio sit a

aut scribente.'

Estius,

TO THE LETTER OP SCEIPTUEE.

and Douai ceo sure the opposite opinion

153

as a depar-

So in their censure they

from orthodoxy.
'
intolerable
and great blasphemy, if
an
is
It
declare,
any shall affirm that any otiose word can be found in
ture

Scripture.

All the words of Scripture are so

sacraments (or mysteries).

Every phrase,

many

syllable,

of a divine sense, as Christ

"
a jot or a tittle shall uot pass
says in S. Matthew,

tittle,

and point

from the law."

'

is full

They go on

to quote S.

John

Bernard, and the

Chrysostom, S. Augustine, S.
Fathers generally.

2
supposed to be of this opinion.
In his second book De Locis Theol., after stating

Melchior Canus

is

'

and refuting the opinions

of those

who thought

that the sacred writers in the Canonical books did

not always speak by the Divine

1

'

Spirit,'

he esta-

Q. 3. Singula Scripturce verba suntne a Spiritu Sancto inspirata

et dictata, ita ut

vocabulorum compositio

ct

stylus

ad ipsum referenda

sint?

Tostatus in cap. xi.

JR. Duplex est in Scholis opposita sententia
Num., Estius in cap. iii. II. ad Tim., et plures graves Theologi illucl
affirmant, imo Lovanienses et Duacenses sententiam oppositam
notant, ut minus orthodoxam, sic enim inquiunt in suis censuris
Intolcranda prorsus et grandis blasphemia est; si quis vel verbum as'

Singula verba Seripturarum

singula sunt Sacramcnta, singidi scrmones, syllabts, apices, puncta,
divinis plena sunt sensibus, ait enim Christus Matth. v. jota unum,

serat in Scripturis inveniri otiosum.

aut unus apex non prceteribit a lege.

ct Moral. Prolcg., torn. i. pp. 41, 42.
2

Melchior Canus, Loc. Theol.

lib.

ii.

.'

Habert,

cap. xvii.

Theol.

Bogmut.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

154
blishes

the

following

proposition

particle of the Canonical books

assistance of the

that

the

Holy

and express revelation

the Scripture

that

'

every

was written by the

He says, I admit
'

Spirit.'

writers

sacred

had no need of a proper

in writing every particle of

but that every part of the Scripture

was written by a peculiar instinct and impulse of

the Holy Ghost, I truly and rightly contend.'
After

saying

them

by

that

some

things

were known to

supernatural revelation, and others by

natural knowledge, he adds,

'

that they did not need

a supernatural light and express revelation to write

these latter truths, but they needed the presence and
peculiar help of the

though they were

Holy Ghost, that these things,

truths, and known by na-

human

tural reason, should nevertheless be written divinely

and without any error.'

The same is also the teaching of Banez, and of
the Dominican theologians generally.
2.

The other

and

opinion, which

I believe I

may

is

that of Bellarmine,

say, of the Jesuit theologians,

and of a majority of the more recent writers on

is, that the whole matter of Holy
Inspiration,

Scripture was written by the assistance of the Holy

dictated by Him ;
Spirit, but not the whole form
or, in

other words,

res

et

sententias

'

the

sense

TO THE LETTER OF SCEIPTUEE.

and substance
particular

'
;

word

non verba

et

'

apices

155

not

every

or letter.

But, before we enter into the detail of this question, it may be well to give, in a few words, the
history of a controversy which, in the sixteenth

and

seventeenth centuries, promoted the analysis of the

subject,

and

left it in its

present form.

It

said to have arisen out of the excesses of the

may be

Lutheran

Reformation.

The account given by Mosheim of the opinions of

Luther and of the Lutherans is as follows. He says
that Luther taught

that
Scripture

is,

that the matter of the

the truths contained in

;

When

opened the

way

followers of

Holy

are

that the
are from the

from the Holy Ghost but the form

style, words, phrases, and construction
writer.

it

is,

Catholic theologians replied that this

for error into the sacred text, certain

Luther went into the other extreme, and

taught, as the younger Buxtorf,

that the

Hebrew

vowel-points and accents are inspired.

Erasmus expressed himself at

one time with very little caution. In his Cominentary on the 2nd chapter of S. Matthew, he said,
It appears also that

'

Sive quod ipsi Evangelistas testimonia hujusmodi

libris deprompseruut ; sed memorise fidentes

non e

Lee On Inspiration, Appendix C.

p.

436.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

15G

'

ita ut lapsi sint.'

lists

Whether

be that the Evange-

it

did not draw their narratives from records, but

trusted to their

memory, and

so

fell

into error.'

Eckius wrote to him, ' Audi, mi Erasme, arbitrarisne

Christianum patienter laturum Evangelistas in Evangeliis lapsos ? Si hie vacillat S.

Scripturse auctoritas,

quae pars alia sine suspicione erit

'

Erasmus was

attacked by the Salmanticenses and other Spanish

He afterwards explains himself, though
theologians.

not very firmly or frankly, but the objectionable

words were erased from the next edition of his

Commentary.

The next

discussion on the subject of Inspiration,

among

Catholic theologians, arose during the Jan-

senist

Controversy.

In 1586, Lessius and Hamel,

in their lectures at Louvain, taught the following

propositions
1.

'

Ut

aliquid

sit

Scriptura Sacra, non est neces-

sarium, singula ejus verba inspirata esse a Spiritu

Sancto.'

'

That a book be Holy Scripture,

necessary that every word of

it

it is

not

be inspired by the

Holy Ghost.'
2.

'

Non

est necessarium ut singula? veritates et

sentential sint
1

torn.

immediate a Spiritu Sancto

Lcc On Inspiration, Appendix C.

iii.

296.

p. 437.

ipsi scrip-

Erasmi Opp.

ep, 303,

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

'

tori inspiratse.'

157

It is not necessary that every truth

or sentence be immediately inspired into the writer

by the Holy Ghost.'

3.

'

Liber aliquis (qualis forte est secundus Macha-

bceorum) humana industria sine assistentia Spiritus

Sancti scriptus, si Spiritus Sanctus postea testetur
nihil ibi esse falsum, efficitur Scriptura Sacra.'

book (such

as perhaps the

'

2nd of Maccabees), written

by human industry, without the assistance of the

Holy Ghost if the Holy Spirit afterwards testify
that nothing false is contained in it becomes Holy

Scripture.'

These propositions were at once assailed.

The
Archbishops of Cambrai and Mechlin sent them to
the Faculties of Douai and Louvain. 2

They were condemned by both. The third was especially censured.

Estius, who drew up the censure, in his 'Commentary
on the Epistles gives his own opinion as follows
'

'

From

this passage it is rightly

and truly established,

that all the sacred and canonical Scripture

is

written

by the dictation of the Holy Ghost so that not only

the sense, but every word, and the order of the words,
;

and the whole arrangement, is from God, as if He

were speaking or writing in person. For this is
1

See Theol. Wirceburg.

See Theol. Wirceburg.

torn.

i.

p. 23.

torn.

i.

p, 23.

THE RELATION" OF THE HOLY GHOST

158

the meaning of the Scripture

being divinely in-

spired.'

Hamel appealed

Lessius and

FacuLy

propositions, nor of the' censures of

The Faculties

Douai.
stadt,

Louvain and

of

Mayence, Treves, Ingoldbut

disapproved the censures

and Eome

Sixtus V. imposed silence until the

Holy See should

The subject has never been decided.

pronounce.

The

censures are given by D'Argentre, in his

lectio

The

to the Sorbonne.

of Paris did not approve either of the Jesuit

Col-

Judiciorum de novis Erroribus,' and the Jesuit

propositions are defended by P. Simon, in his

years after, that

fifty

published his

His-

du Texte du Nouveau Testament.' 2

toire Critique

About

'

'

is

in

a.d.

1650, Holden

Divina? Fidei Analysis,' in which he

maintained a theory of inspiration which is certainly

open to some, if not to all the censures which were
directed against

doxy may

I hope, however, that his ortho-

it.

be maintained, though somewhat at the

expense of his coherence.

The passage which caused the censure of P. Simon
is

to be found in the fifth chapter of the first book,

and

is

as follows

'

Auxilium speciale divinum

prse-

stitum auctori cujuslibet scripti, quod pro verbo Dei

1

Estii Xlomment. in Ep. 2

2

ad Timoth.

Simon, Histoire, &c,

cap.

ch. xxiii.

iii.

16.

TO THE LETTER OP SCRIPTURE.

recipit Ecclesia, ad ea

solummodo

sint pure doctrinalia, vel

se porrigit,

159

qme vel

proximum aliquem, aut ne-

cessarium habeant ad doctrinalia respectum in iis

vero quae non sunt de instituto Scriptoris vel ad alia re:

feruntur, eo

tantum subsidio Deum illi

amus, quodpiissimis

cseteris auctoribus

This, at first sight at least,

that in

all

adfuisse judic-

commune sit.'

would seem to imply

matters not of faith or morals the inspired

writers were liable to err like any other pious

men.

Nevertheless, in three places Holden affirms that the

books of Scripture are absolutely free from all error.

In the first section of the same chapter he defines
the Scripture as a document containing truth, and
i
nothing a veritate quacunque dissonam vel alienam.'

In the third he says,

Quamvis enim nullam com-

plectatur Scrip tura falsitatem.'

In the third chapter

of the second book he says,

'

Quamvis

falsitatis

arguere non licet quicquid habetur in Sacro Codiee,

veruntamen quoe ad religionem non spectant, Catholicse

Fidei articulos nullatenus astruunt.'

It

is

evident, then, that he denied the presence of any-

thing

false or

he limited the

erroneous in Holy Scripture

infallible assistance of the

that if

Holy Spirit
and morals, he supposed that the
whole of the sacred text was written by such assistance
to matters of faith

Divines Fidei Analysis,

lib.

i. c.

v. p. 48.

THE EELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

1G0

as, in fact,

excluded

all

error

or, in

other words,

that if the sacred writers in other matters might have

erred, they never did.

I notice this because it is well to

show how

little

name

of Holden may be quoted by those who, at

maintain that the inspired writers, in matters
not of faith and morals, did err and because even

the

this day,

the writer in Bergier's Dictionary seems so to re1

present him, and, I regret to add, Pere Matignon.

We have now

before us the

main

lines of opinion

which have existed among Catholic divines on the

They have never been much
subject of Inspiration.
modified to this day.

The one

affirms the inspiration

both of the matter and the form of Holy Scripture ;

the other, of the matter only, except so far as the
doctrine of faith and morals, all error of every kind

being excluded by a special and infallible assistance.

To

these two opinions some would add that of Holden

as a third

namely, that this special assistance

is

limited to faith and morals, all error being neverthe-

though the assistance in other subjectonly of an ordinary kind but, I think,

less excluded,

matters

is

without

sufficient foundation, for the reasons I

have

given.

In order to appreciate more exactly the reach of

1

La

Liberie dc Vcsyrit

humam

dans la Foi Catholiquc,

p. 187.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

these opinions,

it will

161

be well to examine them some-

what more intimately, and

to fix the sense of the

terms used in the discussion of the subject.

(1) First, then, comes the word Inspiration,

which

often confounded with Revelation.

is

Inspiration, in

its first

action of the Divine Spirit

intention, signifies

upon the

the

that

human,
is,
upon the intelligence and upon the will. It is an
intelligent and vital action of God upon the soul of

man

and' inspired

'

is

to be predicated, not of books

or truths, but of living agents.

In

its

second intention,

Spirit of

God upon

whereby any one

it signifies

impelled and enabled to act, or

is

some

to speak, or to write, in

by the
In

Spirit of

its still

signifies

them

the action of the

the intelligence and will of man,

special

way designed

God.

more special and technical intention,

it

an action of the Spirit upon men, impelling

to write

that they

what God

But

should write.

necessarily signify

reveals, suggests, or wills

inspiration does not

revelation, or suggestion of the

matter to be written.
(2) Secondly, Revelation

signifies

to the intelligence of man truths

the unfolding

which are contained

in the intelligence of God, the

knowledge of which

without such revelation would be impossible.

Men

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

102

may be the
tion

subjects of revelation, and not of inspira-

and they might be the subjects of inspiration,

and not of revelation.

(3) Thirdly, Suggestion, in the theory of inspiration, signifies the bringing to

God wills the

is

mind such things

writer to put in writing.

suggestion, but not all suggestion revelation

cause

much

that

is

suggested

may

as

All revelation
;

be-

be of the natural

no revelation, being already known by

natural reason, or by historical tradition and the like.
order, needing

Fourthly, by Assistance

(4)

presence and help of the Holy

human

agent, in

powers such
vation,

full

is

understood the

Spirit,

use of his

by which the

own

liberty and

as natural gifts, genius, acquired culti-

and the

like,

Divine Inspiration

executes

impels bim

the work which the

to write.

There are three kinds of assistance.

(1) First, there

Holy

is

the assistance afforded by the

Spirit to all the faithful,

by Avhich their

intelli-

gence is illuminated and their will strengthened,

without exempting them from the liability to error.
(2) Secondly, there is the assistance vouchsafed to
the Church diffused throughout the world or congre-

gated in council, or to the person of the Vicar of

Jesus Christ, speaking ex cathedra, which excludes
all liability to error within the sphere of faith and

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

163

morals, and such facts and truths as attach to

them

(of which relations the Church is the ultimate judge),

but does not extend to the other orders of purely

natural science and knowledge.

(3) Lastly, there

is

the assistance granted as a

gratis data' to the inspired writers of the

'gratia

Holy Scripture, which excludes

all

liability to error

in the act of writing, not only in matters of faith

and

morals, but in all matters, of whatsoever kind, which

by the inspiration of (rod they are impelled to write.

The Jesuits, in the ' Theologia Wirceburgensis,'

sum up

the

authorship of

subject
Grocl

'

the

in

may be

following way:

The

conceived in three ways.

by specicd assistance, which preserves the

writer from all error and falsehood.
Secondly, by
First,

inspiration, which impels the writer to the act of

writing,

destroying his liberty.

without, however,

by revelation, by which truths hitherto

unknown are manifested.' They then affirm, ' that
Thirdly,

Grod specially inspired the sacred writers with the

truths and matter expressed in the sacred books.'
1

quo Deus mentem scriptoris

'Triplex concipi potest modus,

alicujus

affieiat.

auxilio,

quo Deus

u*

est

specialis

assistentia,

ita adest scriptori,

stans in

peculiari

ut ne inter scribendum emit

aut mentiendo, aut falsum proferendo, aut defectum quemcumque

committendo, qui impediat, ne scriptio ad Dei directionem referri
queat

2 UI est inspiratio, quae praeter specialem assistentiam dicib

1G4

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

Perhaps
facts

may be more

it

of the case

we

that what

to

in accordance with the

invert the order, and to say

call Inspiration, in

the special and

technical sense, includes the three following opera-

Holy Ghost upon the mind of the sacred

tions of the

writers

(1) First, the impulse to put in writing the matter

which Grod

wills they should record.

(2) Secondly, the suggestion of the matter to he

written, whether

known,

or only

by revelation of truths not previously

by the prompting of those things which

were already within the writer's knowledge.

(3) Thirdly, the assistance which excludes

liability

in writing all things, whatsoever

may be

to error

suggested to

From
1.

this follow

two

Spirit of Grod to be written.

corollaries

That in Holy Scripture there can be no

hood or
2.

them by the

false-

error.

That Grod

is

the author of

all

inspired books.

The enunciation of those two axioms

has elicited in

all

of Christianity

ages a series of objections.

It

incitationem qnamdam interiorom motumque insolitum, quo quis ad

scribendum impellitur, sine rationis tamen et libertatis periculo
3 M est revelatio, quae memoratse inspiration! superaddit veritatis
:

antea ignotge factam divinitus manifestationem.

Bico I." Deus res saltern seu veritates et scntentias in libris
'

saeris

expressas Scriptoribus sacris spccialiter inspiravit.'

Wirccburg. torn.

i.

pp. 15, 16.

Thcol.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

165

-would be impossible to enumerate or to recite them

I will, therefore, take only the chief categories,
all
:

so to say, of the difficulties which are supposed to

exist in

Holy Scripture.

was alleged by the Maniehseans or

Marcionites that the Old Testament was both evil
1.

First, it

and discordant with the New.

S.

Augustine wrote

Contra Adversarium Legis et Prophetarum,' in refutation of a manuscript said to be found

at Carthage in a street by the sea-shore, and read

a book

called

'

in public to the people,

adtentissime audientibus.'

multis confluentibus, et

The sum of the book

was,

of the world was evil, and the creator

that the

maker

of evil

that he was cruel, because he inflicted death

for trifling causes, as

infants

and innocents

on the sons of Heli,

;

also

upon

that he could not be the true

God, because he delighted in sacrifices and that the

Flood was not sent because of sin, because mankind
:

was worse
examples

after it
:

than before.

I quote these only to

of objection

is

I need not give

more

show that

form

this

not new.

has been objected that the Evaneach other. This also was
gelists are discordant with
2.

Secondly,

treated

by

it

S. Augustine,

by

S.

John Chrysostom, and

has produced a whole Bibliotheca of Harmonies.

1

S.

Aug.

torn. riii. p. 550.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

1GG
3.

Thirdly, that the Holy Scriptures contain errors

and the

in science, history, chronology,

This objection

is chiefly

of

tike.

modern date.

Dr. Arnold expresses himself as follows

The late
'

would

not give unnecessary pain to any one by an enumeration of those points in which the literal historical
statement of an inspired writer has been vainly

Some

defended.

most readers

others are, perhaps, not known, and

never will be known to many.'

same

follow the

probably occur to

instances will

The

line.

His disciples naturally

writers of the

'

Essays

'

and Eeviews are bolder and more

It

Le

is,

however, with surprise that I find the

Noir writing in these terms

'
:

Scripture faults of geography,

short,

and

idea

These

taste.'
itself,'

that

science generally

he

inaccuracies

and unchangeable
says, concern

'the

the matter of Holy Scripture,

is,

errors of copyists.'

There are in Holy

philosophical

faults,

Abbe

chronology, natural

errors against real

not the form only,

4.

also

perhaps,

literary

good

science of

of physical

history,

in

explicit.

'

and are not to be explained by

Fourthly, that the Holy Scripture

contains

expressions of hope, uncertainty, and of intentions

1

Dr. .Stanley

Dictionnaire

tics

On

the Bible,

Harmonies dc

la

&c,

Preface, p. :x.
et de la Foi, pp. 921,

Eaison

2.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

167

never accomplished of advice declared to be simply

Divine suggestion all of which are
personal, not of
;

evidently of
to error.

human

authorship, and therefore

liable

In order to show that the inspired writers did not always write
and that what they wrote without inspiration they
wrote only as men liable to error, a well-known writer has lately
1

by

inspiration,

from the commentaries of

quoted such passages as the following
S. Jerome on the words of S. Paul
Although I be rude in speech,
'

'

xi. 6).
yet not in knowledge (2 Cor.
Therefore Hebrew of the Hebrews as he was, and most learned in
his vernacular tongue, he was not able to express the profundity of
nor did he much heed the
in a language not his own
his
'

meaning
words so long as the sense was secure' (S. Hieron. Com. lib. iii.
ad Gal. cap. vi. torn. iv. p. 309).
He, thereAgain, on the third chapter to the Ephesians he says
fore, who committed solecisms in his words, and could not express
an hyperbole or complete a sentence, boldly claims for himself
wisdom, and says, according to the revelation the mystery is made
known unto me (lb. ad Ephes. cap. vi. lib. ii. p. 348).
Once more, in the Epistle to Algasia on the words, Although I
be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge,' he says 'Paul said this
:

'

'

'

not out of humility but in truth of conscience.'

'

He

does not

and recondite meaning by his speech, and

though he himself knew what he said, I conceive that he was not

fully express his profound

able to transfer

it

in speech to the ears of others

'

(lb.

torn.

iv.

These passages might be easily multiplied, and others

where he speaks as a man carried away by human infirmity

p. 204).
also,

(ad Gal. cap.

v. ib. p. 293).

These passages not only fall short of the conclusion for which they
are quoted, but overturn it. For S. Paul expressly affirms that
though he was rude in speech he was not in knowledge, which S.
Jerome interprets to be his consciousness of 'profound and recondite
meanings,' and also of wisdom. Put this excludes the supposition
of all error. For solecisms in words and the limitations of a lannot his own, did not cause the utterances of divine truth to

guage

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

108

5. Fifthly,

ture

that

much

of the matter of

Holy Scrip-

incredible.

Passing over all

other examples of this objection in the past, and in
is

intrinsically

other countries,

will

name

only the works of

Dr. Colenso on the Pentateuch.

Sixthly, that the text,

variations, is uncertain,

by reason of innumerable
and that the authority of the

Book

6.

is

thereby shaken

in one part,

for if the text be uncertain

we do not know that

it is

not uncertain

in others.
I do not at all underrate the importance of meeting

these objections, which has been already done again

and again in past centuries. But error, as I have

said, seems to have periodic times, and to return

upon us

not indeed, identical, nor in the same

precise forms, but

aspects,

As

still

and attaching

the same errors under

new

to other portions of the truth.

do not now attempt to discuss the large quesno more than

tions I have here enumerated, I will do

add one or two general

1.

And

first it is

become erroneous.
G-ospel is free from

reflections.

to be observed, that the

Church in

The Greek of S. John is not Attic, but his

A Jew of Tarsus might speak Greek
rudely, but the matter revealed to him was not thereby infected
with human error.
The above passages may indeed be quoted
all error.

against the extreme theory of literal inspiration, but not to prove

that the inspired writers were liable to error.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

1G9

declaring the Vulgate Version to be authentic, does

not declare that the existing text

is free

from uncer-

tainty.

By

authentic, the Church intends to say authori-

the sense of jurisprudence,

tative in
*

'

authentic document

conclusive

three kinds

ments;

2.

original

called

signifies

1.

Autographa,

Apographa,

a writing which

is

Such writings may be of

evidence.

in

in which an

or the original docu-

or copies agreeing with the

and, 3. Translations in versions which are

a wider sense,

authentic in

conformity of

substance with the original being secured.

Again, authenticity

is

either intrinsic or extrinsic.

Intrinsic authenticity in autographa signifies that the

is original,

writing

apographa, or

and in the hand of the writer

copies,

the

external

authenticity

is

Authenticity

in

and translations, that they are

conformable to the original.

is

evidence by

Extrinsic authenticity

which the

intrinsic

established.
is

again divided into absolute and

Absolute authenticity signifies conformity

with the original both in matter and form, and in

relative.

things

both of great and of light

moment

in a

word, in all things which constitute the perfection

of the original, to the exclusion of fault or defect.
2.

Relative or respective authenticity signifies con-

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

170

formity as a whole, but not to the exclusion of lesser

faults or defects.

Now, by declaring the Vulgate

Church

signifies that it is in

original Scriptures, and that

it

to be authentic, the

conformity with the

has not been vitiated

either by the malice or the carelessness of the trans-

But theologians of great weight interpret

lators.

this declaration to signify, that the authenticity is

not absolute, extending to jots and

tive

to

but rela-

respective, extending to the substance

or
all

tittles,

the chief parts of the text

doctrine

of

tories, facts,

that

is,

and

to the

and morals, and to all the hisand sayings which are contained in it.
faith

In this sense the Council of Trent declared the

Vulgate to be authentic but in doing so it did not

detract from the authenticity of the Greek or the
;

Hebrew

And

Scriptures.
this

is

the more evident from the fact that

two editions of the Vulgate were published, the one

Yulgata versio Latina est authentica.
Tridentinum duntaxat deelaravit, Yulgatam esse respective
authenticam, scilicet'in his quae ad fidem et mores pertinent.
Cum in deereto Tridentino hactenus examinato Yulgata
Obs.
'

'

I.

II.

'

solum cum

aliis

Latinis editionibus comparata declaretur authentica

aperte colligitur per hanc declarationem nihil derogari authentise

quam graecis Hebrreisque fontibus prseter Protestantes multi
Catholici

et

versioni

postremi tribuunt.'

LXX.

Theol.

Interpretum contra priores plerique

Wirccburg,

torn.

i.

pp. 26, 35.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

"by

command

171

of Sixtus V., the other of Clement VII.,

with numerous corrections of the text.

It

is

clear, therefore, that

the Church has never

pronounced any version to be identical in every jot

or tittle with the sacred original.

And

this

leads

us

to

seasonable at this day.

At

train of thought very

this

moment

there exists

in the Christian world an almost inconceivable multi-

tude of copies of the Bible, in I know not how many

The art of printing has multiplied them
tongues.
with a rapidity and a profusion which would be
almost miraculous not only to a mediaeval transcriber,
but to Caxton and Aldus.

As we

trace this wide

stream upward through the last three centuries, it

becomes narrower and narrower, until we reach the

time when printed volumes disappear, and a number

of manuscripts
many indeed, but in proportion to

the printed copies indefinitely few

sents the written

Word

of God.

is all

If

stream of written tradition upwards,

it

we

that repretrace this

becomes nar-

Without doubt, the copies and versions

rower
and multitudes
of Scripture were always numerous
have perished by age and other causes multitudes
still.

have ceased to exist since the art of printing rendered a manuscript an unwieldy and wearisome
book.

Nevertheless, the ancient manuscripts are

still

172

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

the chief criteria for the correction of our printed

And

text.

of these none

is

to be found of an earlier

Some twenty

date than the fourth century.

or thirty

principal manuscripts in Gfreek, and about forty in

Latin, are

that appear to remain to us of a trust-

all

worthy kind. Of course, I do not forget the texts

which are incorporated in the works of the Fathers,

and in the Lectionaries or Antiphonaries.

are

now speaking

of

or

texts

But we

manuscript copies

representing the great and Divine Original, which

is

now, like the body of Moses, withdrawn by the Divine

Providence from the custody of man. This is a wonderful fact
reflect

men

upon

and wonderful
it.

contend as

also it is that

we

so little

In the heat of their controversies,

if

their Bibles were attested fac-

similes, stereotyped or photographed copies of the

autograph of

S.

John and

S.

siderate of the long tract of

Paul

utterly incon-

human agency by which

the Scriptures have come down to them, and

all

while refusing to believe in the Divine

of the

office

the

Church, which has guarded and authenticated the

written

The

Word

of

God

authenticity,

to us

intrinsic

by its unerring witness.

and extrinsic, of each

New Testament, was known

and guaranteed by those to whom the several inspired
particular writing of the

writers

committed

it.

The Church, by the

inter-

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

173

change of these testimonies, and by the collection of

the books so attested, formed the canon, in which it
recognised the revelation

it

had already

received, and

spread throughout the world, before the canon was

The Scripture corresponded with

collected.

this

great Original, as the Tabernacle corresponded afterwards, with the Pattern which was shown to Moses
in the

Mount.

The Church

is the sole
judge of the
and
alone
knows the handauthenticity,
writing of the Author of the Sacred Books, and the

intrinsic

autograph of the Spirit of (rod.

The next observation to be made

is,

that although,

by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the Church

both knows, and at

all

times can declare with divine

certainty, the doctrine of faith and morals committed

to its charge

and although

it

can also declare, and

has declared with divine certainty, the existence of

Holy Scripture, the catalogue or canon of the Sacred

Books, the inspiration of the writers their immunity, and therefore the immunity of their writings,,

from

all

falsehood

or error,

nevertheless,

it

has

hitherto only declared the Vulgate to be

authentic,
and that, as I have already shown, with the relative
or respective authenticity,

which does not exclude

the

or

errors

of

translators

transcribers.

It has-

never as yet declared any text to possess

immunity

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

174

from the

of translations

errors

or

transcriptions,

nor that transcribers or translators are exempt from

the liability to

err.

The custody

of the faith resides

in the sphere of the Divine illumination,

libility.

which per-

and passive infalThe custody of the material documents of

vades the Church with

Holy Scripture

its

active

resides in the office of the Church, as

a Divine witness to the

facts of its

own

history,

and

The

of the Divine gifts committed to its trust.

Scriptures were indeed written by an impulse and

assistance of Grod,

and

are Divine

as such,

endow-

ments to the Church; but the material volumes, the

manuscripts or parchments, were not a part of the
deposit,

like

the Divine truths

revealed

to

the

Apostles, nor like the holy sacraments divinely instituted

by Jesus

It follows
1.

Christ.

from what has been

said,

That whensoever the text can be undoubtedly

established, the supposition of error as to the contents

of that text cannot be admitted

2.

but,

That wheresoever the text may be uncertain,

in those parts error

But

this

may

be present.

would be not error in Scripture, but in

the transcription or translation of the Scripture,

and would be due, not

to the inspired writer, but to

the translator or transcriber.

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

175

That such a supposition may be entertained,

is

evident from the fact that the variations in the

versions are stated

by some writers at 30,000, by

That varia-

others at 40,000, by others at 100,000.

tions existed already in S. Augustine's time

from
he

his

says,

in

(i.e.

Holy

Scripture), no

say), either the manuscript

error,

words

these

or
S.

is faulty,

But (he must

that these three

difficulties

or the translator

you do not understand

it.'

In

Augustine has provided an answer

for our days as well as for his

and

evident

man may say, The author

of this book did not hold the truth.

was in

is

answer to Faustus the Manichaean, to whom

'
If anything absurd be alleged to be there

own.
suffice

suppositions

It

would seem
cover

to

the

alleged against the historical character

intrinsic credibility of

Holy

Scripture.

First, it is evident that

1.

Holy Scripture does

not contain a revelation of what are called physical
sciences

guage

is

and that when they are spoken

of,

the lan-

that of sense, not of science, and of

popular,

not of technical usage.

2.

'

Secondly, no system of chronology

is laid

down

Ibi si quid velut absurduni moverit, non licet dicere, Auctor

libri non tenuit yeritatem
sed ant codes mendosus est, ant

hujus

interpres erravit, auttu non intelligis.'

c. 5, torn. viii. p. 222.

S.Aug.

Cont. Faust,

lib. xi.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

17G

in the Sacred Books.

There are at

least three chro-

nologies, probable and admissible, apparently given

by Holy Scripture.
there

It cannot be said, therefore, that

are chronological faults

in

Holy Scripture,

forasmuch as no ascertained chronology

is

there de-

clared.
3.

Thirdly, historical narratives

credible

and yet be true

cileable with other history,

may appear

in-

and may seem irreconand yet the difficulty may

simply from our -want of adequate knowledge.

history may seem improbable, and yet be fact

arise

after all.

The most

tion.

certain

which

difficulties

The

and exact sciences have residual

resist all tests,

sciences

and refuse

all solu-

most within our reach, of the

order, and capable of demonstration, not

only have their limits, but also phenomena which
How much more Eevelation,
we cannot reconcile.

natural

which reaches into a world of which eternity and

infinity are conditions, and belongs to an order above
nature and the reason of

man

It is

no wonder that

in the sphere of supernatural science there should

be residual

difficulties,

such as the origin of

evil,

the freedom of the will, the eternity of punishment.

They
world,

lie

we

upon the
shall

frontier,

never pass.

beyond which, in this

Again, what wonder

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

177

that the Holy Scriptures should contain difficulties

which yield to no criticism, and that not only in the
the natural
sphere of supernatural truth, but also of
or d er

that

is,

of history, chronology, and the like

To hear some men

one would suppose that they

talk,

were eye-witnesses of the creation, observers of the

earth's surface before

and

of the

chroniclers

The

patriarchs,

after the Flood,

companions

of the Jewish race.

history of the world for four thousand years,

unmarked

written in mere outline, with intervals of

duration

genealogies

which cannot be

verified

by

any other record, events which are the aira^ XsyofMsva

of history

may well present

difficulties,

after all be
upon the surface,
The same historical event, viewed from differ-

improbabilities
true.

and apparent

and yet

ent sides, will present aspects so different, that the

be apparently irreconcileable and

event not preserved in the
yet some one fact or
It may be
record would solve and harmonise all.
records of it

may

'
from ' intellectual obtuseness,' or want of the

faculty,' or
lief,'

but

it

'

critical

obstinate adherence to preconceived be-

makes

little

that S. Stephen, in Acts

impression on
vii.

error in saying that Jacob

16,

fell

me

to be told

into an historical

was buried in Sichem.

confess that I cannot explain the difficulty,

and that

the explanations usually given, though possible and

THE RELATION OF

178

TIIE

HOLY GHOST

even probable, are hardly sufficient. Nevertheless,

I am not shaken in the least as to the divine axiom,
that Holy Scripture is exempt from all error.
Whether

be a fault in the manuscript, or in the

it

want of our understanding, I

but an error in Scripture most assuredly

translator, or only a

cannot tell

not, and our inability to solve it, is no proof

There it stands, an undoubted difficulty
that it is.

it is

in the existing text

all

and not the only one

together will not shake our faith in the

from error which was granted to the sacred

Nor, again,

when we read

Solomon had 4,000

stalls

and yet

immunity
writers.

in one place that

for

horses,

in

King

another

nor that king Josias began to reign at eight

I cannot
years of age, in another place at eighteen.

40,000

explain

But

it.

I can

imagine and believe many

solutions except one, namely, that the inspired writers

contradicted themselves, or that in this they were not

inspired.

So likewise, when I
Pentateuch
million of

is

men

am

told that the history of the

intrinsically incredible

that half a

could not be slain in one battle

that

the people in the wilderness could not have survived

without water; that to furnish the paschal lambs

would require I know not how many millions of

sheep that, according to sheep-masters in Yorkshire
;

TO THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE.

and Natal,

would require I know not how

this

of square acres of grass

millions

179

many

that the priest

could not carry every day a bullock, with his head,

and hide, and inwards, and appurtenances, six miles

I confess that it
out of the camp, and the like
makes little impression on me. It reminds me of the
;

Athenian, who having a house to

sell,

carried about

brick in his pocket as a view of the premises and

of another, who showed in his olive garden the well

out of which his forefathers used to drink

to

which

testing history by mensuration, and yet

'What long necks they must have

Relieving
his friend

said,

had

'

do not profess to be able to understand all

the difficulties which may be raised. The history
I

shows to

me

afar off like the harvest-moon just over

the horizon, dilated beyond

aspect unnatural

all

proportion, and in its

but I know

it

to be the

same

heavenly light which in a few hours I shall see in a

flood of splendour, self-evident and without a cloud.

So

am

content to leave, as residual

narratives which

difficulties,

come down from an

age,

the

when

as

yet the father of secular history had not been born.

Why

should

account of
in

that

all difficulties in

we must render an

Scripture any more than

any more than in

Why should we be ashamed of saying with

revelation,

science

we assume
or

in

revelation

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

180

S. Augustine,

'

Let us believe and immoveably affirm

'
As for us,in

that in Scripture falsehood has no place.'

'

the history of our religion, upheld by Divine authority,

that whatsoever is opposed to it is

we have no doubt
most

false, let

will of

it.'

'

the literature of the world say what

We cannot say the manuscript

for all the corrected Latin versions

the translator

have

'

Even

in the

things of which I

it

faulty,

nor that

Greek

you do not understand

Holy Scriptures themselves, the

ignorant are many more than

am

as

Adore in the Gospel

yet understand, and adore it all

the things which I know.'

what you do not

it so

in error, for all the corrected

It remains that

it so.

it.'

is

have

is

'

'Ego enim

fateor caritati tuse, solis eis Scripturarumlibris qui

canonici appallantur, didici hunc timorem honoremque deferre,
nullum coram auctorem scribendo aliquid errasse firmissime

jam
lit

credam. Dum tamen a scribentibus auctoribus sanctarum Scripturarum ct maxima canonicarum inconcusso credatur et dcfendatur
omnino abesse mendacium,
mentiendi utique non est locus.'
S. Aug. ep, 82 ad Hier. torn. ii. pp. 190, 198.
Nos vero in nostra? religionia historia, fulti auctoritato divina,
quidquid eiresistit, non dubitamus esse falsissimum, quomodo libet
I)c Civ. Dei, lib. xviii.
sese habcant cetera in ssecularibus literis.'
.

'

cap. 40, torn. vii. p. 522.

3

'

Proinde, quia ex apostoli Pauli canonieis, id

est,

rere Pauli

utrumque profertur, et non possumus dicere, autmendosnm

ant interpreesse codicem, omnes enim Latini emendati sic habent
tem errasse, omnes enim Gr?eci emendati sic habent restat ut ta
non intelligas.' Cont. Faust, lib xi. cap. G, torn. viii. p. 222.
*
Quod non solum in aliis innumerabilibus rebus multa me latent,
scd etiam
ipsis Sanctis Scriptitria multo nesciam plura quum
eplstolis,

'

sciam.'

Ad Inquis. Januar. F.p.LV.

torn.

ii.

p. 113.

TO THE LETTER OF SCEIPTURE.

181

the more in proportion as it is now hidden from

l
These may be hard sayings to the nineteenth
you.'
century

but they are the judgments of reason illumi-

nated by faith, i which

the same for ever.'

And

if it

yesterday, and to-day, and

should seem irrational and perverse to

shut our eyes to

answer

is

We

difficulties, as

neither

derive

men

say,

we can but

our religion from the

Our faith
Scriptures, nor does it depend upon them.
was in the world before the New Testament was
written.

The

Scripture itself depends for

who

tion upon the Witness

that Witness

is

order of divine

Our

Divine.

which

facts

its

attesta-

teaches us our faith, and

faith rests

was

upon an

already

spread

throughout the world, when as yet the Gospel of

S. John was not written.
Of what weight are any

number

of residual difficulties against this standing,

perpetual, and luminous miracle, which

tinuous

and

of

manifestation

among men

is

supernatural

the conhistory

a history, the characters, proportions,

features of

which

are, like the order to

which

it

"belongs, divine, and therefore transcend the ordinary

course of nations and of men ?
One of these divine
1

'

Jlonora in eo quod nonduin intelligis

quanto plura vela cernis.

secreti
et

Luc.

sed honorantibus levantur vela.'

torn. t. p.

285.

et tanto

magis lionora,
Vela faciunt honorem

Serm. LI.

de. Concor.

Matt.

182
facts,

THE EELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

and that which

the centre and source of all

the perpetual Voice of the Church

That Voice has declared to us that the

our certainty,
of (rod.

is

is

Sacred Books were written by inspiration, and that

whatsoever those books contain, howsoever it may
surpass the bounds of our experience, and refuse the
criteria of our

arithmetic,

is

divinely true.

statistics,

simply

and the calculus of our

to be believed because

it

is

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

CHAPTER

183

IV.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLT GHOST TO THE

INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

In the

last

chapter

we have endeavoured to ascertain,

according to the tradition of the Catholic faith and

theology, the relation of the

Holy

Spirit to the letter

"We may
and to the substance of Holy Scripture.
to trace the relation of the same Divine

now go on
Person to

At the

its interpretation.

close of the last chapter, it

was affirmed

that Christianity was neither derived from the Scriptures of the New Testament, nor is dependent upon

them: that

it

was derived from, and that

it still

depends upon the order of divine facts introduced

into
facts,

the

one

world by the Incarnation; among which

is the perpetual presence of a Divine

Teacher among men.

we

In the present chapter, then,

Divine Teacher to

will trace the relation of this

the interpretation of Scripture.

The

faith teaches us

that what the presence of the Incarnate Son in the

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

184

years of His ministry was to the Scriptures of the

Old Testament, that the presence of the Holy Ghost

servata proportioned to the Scriptures of the New.

is,

Now, the Jews were not more unconscious of the

presence of a Divine Person among them than the
multitude of

We

men

at this day.

read in the fourth chapter of S. Luke's Gospel

that on a certain Sabbath day our Lord

'

went into

the synagogue, according to His custom,' and that

*

He

stood up to read.'

The Sabbath

rose

upon
Nazareth that day like any other, and the people of
Israel went to their synagogue as at other times.
Jesus was there, according to His custom

Book
as

unrolled

He

it,

was written, The Spirit of the Lord

Wherefore He hath anointed me to

book,

not.

not

is

it

upon me.

preach

the

'

This day these words are

That
your
day was a day of visiThe Messiah was come, but they knew Him

fulfilled in

tation.

and

restored it to the minister and sat

Then He

down.'

'And when He had folded

Gospel to the poor.'

He

The

found the place where

'

the

Him

of Esaias the prophet was given to

He

He

and

stood up to read as others were wont to do.

With the
recognise

said

ears.'

Scriptures in their hands, they did

Divine

the
1

S.

Luke

iv.

Person
16-19.

of

whom

the

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

185

He

was come fulfilling the prophecies

but they believed Him to be the carpenter, the
son of Joseph. There was a Divine Teacher in the
Scriptures spoke.
;

midst of them, but they thought His voice was hu-

He

man.

interpreted to

them the

sense,

and con-

firmed the authenticity of the Books of Moses and of

the Prophets with a Divine witness

but they rejected

both His testimony and His interpretation.

Books of the

Law

With the

in their hands, they rejected the

Lawgiver, and appealed from Him to it, from the

living voice of a Divine Teacher to the letter of the

by

their

own human com-

Scriptures,

interpreted

mentaries.

It is of this perversity S.

letter killeth, the Spirit quickeneth.'

says,

'The Jew

Christian believes.'
tation, or

Person
ture

is

the

the

sense of

This
vital

there

Now, was

living Interpreter of the

a vital question
in England

has preserved two things

1

2 Cor.

'Codicem portat Jadscus,

iii.

Enarr. in Ps.

Augustine
the

this a transient visi-

Guardian both of the

now

The

in the midst of us a Divine

still

Holy Writ ?

is

S.

says,

the volume, by which

carries
2

Paul
l

letter

Holy Scripand of the

vital at all times

most

Because hitherto England

not wholly, indeed, but with

6.

Ivi. torn. iv. p.

undo credat Chrietianus.' S. Aug.

534.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

18G
less of

mutilation than other Protestant countries

namely, a belief that Christianity

is

a divine revela-

is an inspired
tion, and that the Holy Scripture
Book. These have been hitherto the foundations of

But they have been secretly

and silently giving way. At the present day, many
and many who profess
reject Christianity altogether

English Christianity.

to believe in Christianity reject the inspiration of a

And these things are

large part of the Scriptures.
the forerunners of a flood which has already swept
the belief in Christianity and in the Scriptures from
If Luther
the greater part of Lutheran Germany.
not
he
would
the
from
should rise
dead,
recognise
his

own work nor

many

his

own

there appear to be

from this spiritual death.

posterity.

And

in Ger-

no signs of rising again

In France, some seventy

upon the land,

The Church was swept

burst
years ago, a flood of infidelity

and carried
away.

An

all

before

it.

empire reigned not only by force,

philosophy, and by infidel education.

infidel

but by infidel
But France has risen again from the dead, and
in France is restored to
Christianity and the Church

power and purity. Its hierarchy, priesthood,

and religious are more vigorous and faithful than
And despite of indifference and infidelity in
ever.

all its

individuals,

the French people,

as

a people, are

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

Christian

in

What

and works.

faith

France but the Church of Grod

endowments,

witness,

Catholic and

and

Eoman Church

power
?

riers

is

has saved

supernatural

of

But what

England from the unbelief which

inundation

the

187

the

holy

shall save

impending

as

an

The Keformation has mined the bar-

against scepticism and unbelief.

Doubt has

been generated, age after age, upon every doctrine

of Christianity and every book of Scripture.
It
seems to hang in the atmosphere, and to find its
way impalpably into all minds ; not of the irreverent

and

but even of the higher and the

what wonder, when pastors and bishops

irreligious only,

And

better.

of the Church of England are leaders in this secession

from the Truth ? Is there then no power of rising

again for England

France

Is there

Is

it like

Germany, or

any barrier to unbelief?

like

any wit-

ness for divine faith present in this country to raise

it

again from the ruin into which the flood of unbelief

is visibly

bearing

and hardly

it

away? I believe there is. Narrow

visible as it

now may seem,

nevertheless

England dissolves and

passes away, the Catholic and Eoman Church spreads
It is
itself with a steady and irresistible expansion.
as the legal Christianity of

indeed a wonderful reverse to

to

human

human

pretension and

pride, to see at this hour the Catholic

and

THE RELATION OP THE HOLY GHOST

188

Roman Church

in England standing out as the one

and only consistent and inflexible witness and keeper

of Holy Writ, the sole guardian of Scripture, both

of

its

sense and of

its letter,

and therefore the only

Scriptural Church, teaching the only Scriptural

gion to the English people.

reli-

It seems hardly necessary to say that Christianity

was not derived from Scripture, nor depends upon

that the master error of the Reformation was the

it

fallacy, contrary

both to fact and to

faith, that Chris-

tianity was to be derived from the Bible, and that

the

dogma

of faith

to be limited to the written

is

records of Christianity

or in other words, that the

Spirit is bound by the letter ; and that in the place

of a living and Divine Teacher, the Church has for
its

guide a written Book.

It

is

to this fallacy I

ing out what

is

would make answer by draw-

the relation of the Holy Spirit to the

interpretation of the written

I.

Word

of God.

First, then, it is evident that the

whole revela-

tion of Christianity was given by the Spirit of God,

and

preached also and believed among the nations of the

New Testament existed. The know-

world before the

ledge of

God through

the Incarnation, and the

way

of salvation through grace, was revealed partly by

our Divine Lord, and fully by the Holy Ghost at

TO THE INTERPRETATION' OF SCRIPTURE.

His coming.

The faith, or science

of

God was

189

infused

into the apostles by a divine illumination.

It

was

not built up by deduction from the Old Testament,

but came from (rod manifest in the flesh, and from

His Holy

It

Spirit.

was in

ment, before a line of

itself

the

New

was written.

it

Testa-

was a

It

Divine science, one, full, harmonious and complete

from its central truths and precepts to its outer cir-

was traced upon the intelligence of

man by the light which flowed from the intelligence
The outlines of truth as it is in the Divine
of God.
cumference.

It

so far as

Mind,

God was

pleased to reveal, that

is,

it, were impressed upon the human mind.

This truth was preached throughout the world

to unveil

by the
to

'

apostolic

They were commanded

mission.

preach the Gospel to every creature,' and

make

disciples of all nations.'

manded, the

apostles

whole of Christianity.
faith of Jesus Christ.

man he became
faith.

And what

'

to

Jesus com-

They promulgated the

did.

They baptized men into the

But before they baptized any

a disciple

that

is,

he learned the

The Faith was delivered to him in the

articles

of the Baptismal Creed, as the law was delivered in

the Ten Commandments.

These two summaries con-

tain the whole truth and law of God.

And

every

baptized person, according to his capacity, received

THE KELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

190

the explicit knowledge of

tained in them.

all

that

is

implicitly con-

But what was the source of

this

It was

perfect science of Grod in Jesus Christ ?

no

written Book, but the presence of a Divine Person

illuminating both the teachers and the taught.

And

was

this universal preaching of the apostles

written by the Spirit upon the intelligence and heart

of the living Church, and sustained in it by His preThe New Testament is a living Scripture,
sence.

namely, the Church itself, inhabited by the Spirit of

God, the author and writer of all revealed Truth.

He is the Digitus Paternce dexterce, the finger of the

right hand of the Father,' by whom the whole revelation of the New Law is written upon the livin
'

tables

of the

heart.

S. Irenceus,

the disciple

Polycarp, the disciple of S. John, writing

after the death of the last apostle, asks
:

the apostles had not

left

fifty
'

of

years

What

if

us writings, would it not

have been needful to follow the order of that tradition which

they delivered to those to

whom

they

committed the churches ? to which many of the barbarous nations who believe in Christ assent, having
salvation written without paper and ink, by the Spirit
in

their hearts, sedulously guarding the old tradi-

tion.'
1

'

Quid autem

si

ncque Apostoli quidem Scripturas reliqulssent

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

This was a hundred and
nation.

During

generations

of

all this

fifty

191

years after the Incar-

time, which

is

nearly four

men, on what had Christianity debut upon the same Divine

for its perpetuity

pended
fact which was

its source, the presence of a Divine

Person inhabiting the mystical body or Chmch of

Jesus Christ, and sustaining the original revelation

in its perfect integrity

But, secondly, this revelation was also divinely

II.

recorded before the

New Testament

Scriptures were

written.
It

was written,

as I

have

said,

upon the mind of

the pastors, or the Ecclesia docens, the Chinch teach-

and upon the mind of the flock or the

Ecclesia discens, the Church learning throughout the
ing the world

world.
It

was recorded and incorporated

in the

Seven

Sacraments of Grace, which are, each one of them,

Truths of revelation permanently embodied and
proposed to faith. The sacrament of Baptism incorporates, so to say,

the doctrines of original sin and of re-

norma oportebat ordinem sequi traditionis, quam tradiderunt

quibus committebant ecclesias ? Cui ordinationi assentiunt mulgentes barbaroruni eorum qui in Christum credunt, sine charta

nobis,
iis

tse

et atranienio scriptam habentes per Spiritum in cordibus suis

salutem, et veteitm traditionem diligenter custodientes.'
S. Ireu.

Cont. Hcsr. lib.

iii.

v. p. 178.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

192

generation

the sacrament of Penance, the absolution

of sin after Baptism, the cleansing of the Precious

Blood, the power of contrition, the law of expiation

the sacrament of Confirmation, the interior grace and

the seven gifts of the Holy Grhost

the sacrament of

Order, the divine authority, unity, and power of the

Hierarchy of the Church

the sacrament of Matri-

mony, the unity and indissolubility

of Christian

marriage, the root of the Christian world

and

so on.

teaches, and requires faith in a

and the Seven
constellation of Christian truths

Each one embodies,

Sacraments of the Church are a Record, or Scripture

of Grod, anterior to the written Gospels of the Evan-

Much

more, the Divine worship of the universal Church, of which one of these seven Sacragelists.

the centre, namely the sacrifice and sacrament

ments

is

of the

Body and Blood

of Jesus Christ.

The

incar-

nation, redemption, and consubstantial union of the

Mystical Body with

saints

and of

its

All truths congregate around

rated and manifested.

the altar, as all truths

The whole

Head, the communion of

souls departed, are therein incorpo-

radiate from Jesus Christ.

revelation of Christianity

is

reflected in

sacraments, and

it.

But the Church,

worship
were spread throughout the world before as yet the
books of the New Testament were written.
its

its

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

It was not

till

the

193

had been everywhere

faith

preached, believed, defined in creeds, recorded in the

mind of the universal Church, embodied in sacraments,

and manifested in

its

perpetual worship, that the

Testament was formed.

By

New

the inspiration and im-

pulse of the same Divine Teacher who had already

revealed the whole Truth to the apostles, it was for
I say for the most part,

the most part put in writing.

because the written Scripture

is

not coextensive with

the Kevelation of Pentecost*, nor with the preaching

of the apostles.

The written Scripture presupposes

and recognises in those to

whom

knowledge of the whole Truth.

it is

addressed the

It is to the

Church,

guided by the Spirit of God, what the writings and

letters of a

man

are to his personal identity.

would recognise all, but record only a part

many things, and express only such things

They
;

imply
as fall

within their scope.

The most elementary knowledge of Christian hisThe first Gospel, that

tory is enough to prove this.
of S. Matthew, was not written

the ascension, and then in

it

till

Hebrew

years after

five

In Greek

only.

did not exist for five or six years later

that

is,

ten years at least, none of the four Gospels, as

for

we

The second Gospel, that

possess them, were written.
of S. Mark, was written about the same time. The

THE EELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

194

For the

third, twenty-four years after.

two

years there were only

twenty
and those in

Ofospels,

The fourth Gospel, that of

Greek.

first

John, was

S.

about sixty years after the ascension.

till
the end of the first century, or for
Where then,

not written

till

two generations of men, were the four Gospels, which

people seem to imagine were distributed by the
twelve Apostles to their converts on the day of Pentecost

The

earliest of the Epistles

teen years after

was written about

our Lord's ascension the

than thirty years after that event.

latest

But

all

fif-

more
these

books are limited in their scope.

Even the four

Gospels treat only of the incarnation

and earthly

The Book

of Jesus.

history of S. Peter
local

of Acts

and

is

life

but a fragment of the

S. Paul.

The

Epistles are

and occasional, and even private and personal

in their nature.

And

all

these books for generations

were known only by those parts of the Church to

which they were dedicated and entrusted. They

were not collected into a volume, that

Testament,

as

men

call it,

dred years at least after the ascension.

century,

martyrs,

multiplied in
1

all

The following are

according

to

the

is

the

New

did not exist until a hun-

confessors,

the world.
the dates of the

saints

The

During all this

and penitents

apostolic mission

Books of the

ordinary Catholic and

New Testament,

Protestant authorities.

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

had become a universal

tradition.

The Church on

on the sunrise and the sunset, upon

rested

earth

195

The Heavenly Court had

Spain, and upon India.

-already received the saints of three generations of

But

men.

during- all this

their Christianity,

no book, not even the

the

time what was the source of

and what

New Testament

its

support

Certainly

New
'

Testament Scripture, but

in spirit and in truth,' the

revelation of the day of Pentecost, given and sustained by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the
Either
Srat

'will

equally establish the argument of the text, as they differ

Tery slightly.
Hkeims Eng.

A.D.
S.

Matthew

S.

Mark

iS.

Luke

S.

John

The Acts.
Romans

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1

63

57
56
62
62

58

66
66

Titus

66

62

o 2

97
63
58

2 Timothy

Hebrews

61

57
57

52
52

Philemon

A.D.

57
96

2 Thessalonians

Timothy

to the Script.

38

62

Thessalonian

Home's Intro!

3a
43

63

1 Corinthians

Vers.

57
53
61

62
62
52
52
64
65
64
62
62

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

19G

Church, the divine and perpetual Teacher of the

This is the original, of which the written
-world.
but a partial and subsequent transcript,
circle of divine truths
recognising, indeed, the whole
facts in the faith and
divine
and the whole order of
Scripture

Church

is

of (xod.

upon

earth, but reciting only portions,

and pointing to the living and Divine Teacher as the

only guide into
III.

all truth.

From this it follows further, that this science of

Oocl, incorporated in the Church,

the true key to

was in possession

is

It

the interpretation of Scripture.

throughout the world; it was perfect everywhere

New

before the books of the

It bore witness to the

Pentecost

it

whole revelation of the day of

fixed the

the evidence of divine

Testament were written.

meaning of the Scriptures by

facts.

The Socinians and Unitarians

tell

us now, as the

Arians and Sabellians told us of old, that the doctrine

of the

Holy Trinity

Testament

but

it

is

not to be read in the

New

was preached and believed through-

out the world before the

New

Testament was written.

and other Protestants

Presbyterians, Independents,
tell us now, as the Acephali and others told us of old,
that a hierarchy, an episcopate, and a priesthood are
not to be found in the New Testament ; but there

was a hierarchy ruling

over the pastors of

the

TO THE INTERPRETATION' OP SCRIPTURE.

197

Church, an episcopate feeding the flock, and a priesthood offering the holy sacrifice at the altar among
all nations of

the world before the

New Testament

existed.

of

There are Puritans of every shade and Anglicans

many opinions, who tell us that the Church is an

invisible
its

unity

body seen only by

faith

and by Gfod; that

only moral, not numerical

is

divisible into

many

parts, or branches,

New Testament does not exhibit

to the eye, numerically

that

it is

and that the

the Church as visible

one, and indivisible in its

But before the New Testament was, the

unity.
Church had expanded from east to west, visible by
its

organisation, absolute

and exclusive in

its

unity,

which the divisions and apostasies of men could

neither divide nor multiply.

We
of the

are told that there are only two sacraments

new

law,

grace, according

and that they do, or do not confer

as the

errors is pleased to opine

multiplicity of Protestant
;

that there

is

no sacrifice

under the Gospel, no real and personal presence of

Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

But the Christians

throughout the world had received and professed

their faith in the seven sacraments of grace, and
the perpetual sacrifice and universal presence of the
Word made flesh in the Holy Eucharist had already

THE KELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

198

the Church with the consciousness of a Divine

filled

before as yet the canon of the

manifestation

New

Testament was completed.

Finally,

there

we

are told that in the

to be read

is

and

diffused, all the

pastor as chief over

from

his

The

faith

it in

Testament
no vicar

all,

world recognised one-

reigning in the place of Peter

See in Koine.

and the Church then were the key of

interpretation.

read

New

S. Peter,

But before the New Testament was

of Jesus Christ.
collected

no successor of

They who read the New Testament,

the light of the day of Pentecost and within

the circle of the universal Church in which they beheld the order of divine truths or facts, which the

New Testament

Scriptures recognise and presuppose.

This was both the actual and the scientific kev

to-

their true interpretation.

IV.
is

From this it is further

evident that the Church

the guardian both of the faith and of the Scriptures.

It received both from its divine Head.

And

it

alone received the custody of the divine revelation

and of its inspired books.

It received

from the Church

of old, the books of the old law confirmed by the

divine witness of Jesus himself; from the synagogue,

and from the evangelists and apostheir inspired writings, of which it knew the

the later books

tles,

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

199

authenticity and genuineness both bj extrinsic and

intrinsic evidence.

And

Church alone received both the

as the

and the Scriptures,

it

faith

alone witnesses to both, and

that with a twofold evidence

historical testimony, resting

first

upon

with a

human and

own personal

its

7
knowledge of the authenticit} of those books, an evi-

dence abundant to attest their veracity

and secondly

with a divine and supernatural testimony, resting

upon

its

own

spiritual

consciousness

contained in those books.

the

Church

human and
fallible in

Take

it

twofold, natural

is

divine

of the

The witness

truth

therefore of

and supernatural,
and in-

sufficient in the lower,

the higher sphere of

its

testimony.

even on the lowest ground.

In

human

jurisprudence the most certain rules of interpretation

are to be drawn from the judgments of the learned,

the precedents of tribunals and cotemporaneous exposition.

The two

first

are sufficient in most cases,

It is strange to read such words as the following

The value
of internal evidence
always, perhaps, the foundation of Christian
drawn out into philosophy by Anselm, has now
helief everywhere
1

'

been recognised in theory as well as in practice, in theology as well

as in philosophy.'
Theology of the Nineteenth Century. Fraser's
Magazine, No. CCCCXXII. p. 259. What has generated the internal

mind of the Christian world, but

Church? and of what avail isthealleged

evidence of Holy Scripture in the

this twofold witness of the

internal evidence apnrt from the Church, still less opposed to

The Essays and Reviews are answer enough.

it ?

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

00

the last

held to be certain as an exponent of the

is

mind

of a law and of the

meaning
But in the Church we have

all this

of the lawgiver.

and more.

We

have both the judgments of doctors and the decrees

of councils
and we have more than this, the cotem;

poraneous exposition of the books of the New Testament by the divine facts which existed before the
Scriptures, and are the key to their sense

the Faith,

the Church, and the Sacraments spread throughout

the world.

The tradition of the Church,

then, contains in

it all

the principles of certainty which govern the science

But it contains more.
of human jurisprudence.

The

tradition of the

also divine.

It has

Church

is

not

human

only, but

an element above nature, the

presence of a divine illumination, so that not only

the testimony but the discernment of the Church

both the original

revelation and the Scripture with an infallible certainty, and we receive both from the Church by an
is

It delivers to us

supernatural.

act of divine faith.

V.

And

Church

this

interpreter,

key

to the

ment was

brings us to a last truth, that the

not merely the interpretation but the

is

and

Holy

is

divinely guided in applying this

Scriptures.

Before the

New Testa-

written, it was the living witness for the

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

and perpetual

truth, the organ of the Divine

which in

all nations

its infallibility,

voice,

declared the original revelation.

Its authority as a teacher rests

and

201

that

is

upon

upon the

its

commission

command

of its

Divine head, and the assistance of the Holy Grhost.

The theory that the Church can err could only
arise in minds which have lost the faith of what the

Can it be believed that the mystical body

of Christ which is indissolubly united to its Divine
Church is.

Head

in heaven, should go about on earth teaching-

falsehoods

in

Church, which

His name?

Is it credible that

the

the dwelling-place of the Spirit of

is

Truth, should wander from the revelation which

radiates from His presence as light from the sun

The Church
tion

in the beginning

of God,

and knows

perception which
ness

which

which

is

is

it

knew the whole

in

its

inspiration of the

revela-

every age with a

never obscured, and a conscious-

never suspended.

pervades

intelligence,

New Testament

The illumination
unites
as

with

the

two lights pass

into one.

The Church
pastors

diffused throughout the world, both

and people are

this faith.

And

rilled

by a consciousness of

in the light of this consciousness

the whole sense of Scripture, I do not say in

contents, but in all that bears

all its

upon the faith and law

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

202

of Grod,

instinctively clear to

is

The

it.

indissoluble

union between the Holy Ghost and the mystical body

secures to

in all ages its passive

infallibility in

The Church congregated

in council has

it

believing.

a special assistance to discern and to declare the

original revelation, and therefore the sense of Scripture, so far as that revelation
reflected

by

it.

unction of truth,

contained in

is

it

or

The Episcopate has the grace or

and when assembled in council has

a special assistance and direction in its judgments.

General councils are infallible because the Church is
so.

They

are the organs of

its

discernment and

its

decrees.

And what

true of the Church as a whole, and

is

of councils as

its

The endowments
its

head,

who

is

and the focus of

organs,

is

true

also of its head.

of the body are the prerogatives of

the centre of the Divine tradition,

its

The

supernatural illumination.

head of the Church has

also, as

we have already

seen, a twofold relation, the one to the whole body

upon

earth, the other to its Divine

which invests

Head

in Heaven,

him with an eminent grace and

assist-

ance of the Holy Spirit, whose organ he is to all the

Church and to all the world. The accumulation of
all

the evidence,

lights,

human and

divine,

and of

all

the

natural and supernatural, by which the reve-

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

lation of

God

is

known

or declared,

203

and the books of

and their sense,

Holy Scripture, both in their letter
resides
are guarded and authenticated,
by a special

endowment

in

the visible head of the Church on

earth.

be making a large claim in behalf of

the Vicar of Jesus Christ ? Does not every one who

Do

seem

to

of the
rejects the living voice

Church virtually make

the same claim for his sect and for himself?

disclaims infallibility, but he

is

He

confident that he

is

that the Catholic interpretations of

in the right :
the Scripture are erroneous, and his are certain.
Churches that are fallible, it seems, never err, at
least in their

own esteem

and

all

the multiplication

of their perpetual contradictions fails to bring them

to a sense of their aberrations. It is strange on what
suicidal

arguments men

will rest themselves.

At

one time they say that Scripture is so clear and selfevident in its teaching that no humble mind can fail
to see its true meaning.

If so,

why do they

contra-

dict each other and themselves at different times?

And

not equally so to the Christians

races and ages who in it have unanimously

if so clear, is it

of all

read the Catholic and

Eoman

faith ?

said that the reason

Again, it is
discern the true meaning of the Bible.

is

enough to

Why,

again,

THE EELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

204

are

they who hold this principle in irreconcilable

conflict ?

And

the

if

individual

reason

criterion of the sense of Scripture,

is
is

sufficient

not the reason

of S. Thomas, or of Suarez, or of Eellarrnine to be

much more

trusted,

Church of

all

Once more,
that

all

the collective reason of the

ages and of
it is

who read

all

people upon earth

said that there is a special promise

the Scripture with prayer, should

be led into

all truth.
Again, the truth is but one ;
do
who
why
they
go by this rule interminably conBut did not S. Augustine, and
tradict each other ?

Chrysostom, and S. Cyril of Alexandria read Holy Scripture with prayer to underS. Athanasius, S.

stand

Have not

it ?

the saints in all ages

Have

they not received the supernatural guidance and

instruction promised, as

they not

all

doctrines

declared by

Scripture

agree

And

is

we

are told, to all

in every jot

them

and

Do

tittle of the

as the sense of

Holy

not the unanimous consent of

the saints the sense and voice of the Spirit of

God ?

Certainly if there be a promise of guidance into the

sense of Scripture

made

to individuals, the

same

is

enjoyed by the saints one by one, much more by

altogether, still more by the whole Church

them

of God,

whose collective illumination

is

a perpe-

TO THE INTERPRETATIOX OF SCRIPTURE.

205

tual emanation from the presence of the Spirit of

Truth.

Such then
There

is

the assertion with which I set out.

us now, as there was in the beginning, a Divine Person, the author and teacher of

among

is

the whole revelation of Christianity, the guardian

of the Sacred Books, and the interpreter of their
sense
is

and the Church in

all ages,

one and undivided,

the perpetual organ of His voice.

From

all

that has been said

it follows

that the

The
Scriptures separated from the Church perish.
from
the
appeal
living voice of the Church to the
letter of Scripture destroyed the

Divine custody of
the letter and of the sense of the Sacred Books. It

has needed centuries to unfold the whole reach of

fruits.

but

has most surely borne its

The canker fastened iipon the root, and has

this false principle,

it

been spreading in secret through the sap to the

trunk, and throughout the spread of the branches
even to the utmost spray.
First, the

lost in the contradictions

teachers.

Scripture

And when
is lost.

of

Holy Scripture was

and confusions of human

interpretation

the right sense

Just as a man's will

in the sense intended

by him, and

his will ceases to be his will

when

in
it

is

is

lost,

no other
is

the

his will only

:

and

interpreted

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

i'OG

S. Jerome says, 1
against or beside Lis intention.
'
The Gospel consists not in Scriptures, but in the

sense

not on the surface, but in the marrow

not in

the foliage of words, but in the root of truth.'

he

'

says,

The Divine

Again,

when misinterpreted

Scriptures

by men become human.' So that, after all, the

most scriptural are often the most unscriptural.

Vincent of Lerins says that heretics have always

been conspicuous for an obtrusive abundance of
2

S.

quotation.

human

Augustine

the

calls

teachers misinterpret,

'

which

texts

the shower of snares,'

3
pluvia laqueorum, of which the Psalmist speaks.

Rut when the

1

'

Marcion

et

interpretation goes, faith in the in-

Basilides

babent Dei evangelium

et

cseterse

'Haereticorum

pestes

non

quia non babent Spiritum sanctum, sine

quo bumanum

Nee putemus in verbis

sit evangelium quod docetur.
Scripturarum esse evangelium, sed in sensu non in superficie, Bed in
Grando
medulla; non in sermouum foliis, sed in radice ration is.
:

periculum est in ecclesia loqui, ne forte intcrpretatione perversa <le

^vangelio Christi bominis fiat evangelium, aut quod pejus est diaboli.'

S. Hier. in Gal.

cap

i.

torn. iv. pp. 230, 231.

'Hie fortasse aliquis interroget, an ct hceretici divinm Scripturm

Utuntur plane, et vebementer quidem, nam
lestimoniis utantur.
videas eos volare per singula qiueqne sancta; legis volumina.'

Vine.

Common, cap. 25.

3
'Non cnim Propketre tantum, sed omnes verbo Dei animas
Qui cum male intelliguntur, pluit
irrigantes, nubes dici possunt.
Deus super peccatores laqueos. ... Et bic igitur eadem ScripLirin.

tu varum nube, pi*o suo cujutque merito, et peceatori pluvia laque-

orum,

et justo pluvia ubertatis infusa est.'

torn. iv. p. 64.

S.

Aug. Enar. in Ps. x.

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

The

spiration of Scripture speedily follows.

course

of Biblical criticism, both iu Gerrnauy and in

shows that

land,

men do

207

Eng-

not long believe in the

divine inspiration of books which are rendered incredible

The

by misinterpretation.

school which

is
becoming dominant in the
in
and
the Universities, by reason
Church
Anglican
of its scholarship and attractiveness, has already re-

jectedthe inspiration of large parts of Holy Scripture,

and reduced the nature of inspiration to limits far
short of the truth.

To deny the
of such books,
ture

inspiration of certain books, or parts

is

to

deny such documents to be Scrip-

that is, to deny the genuineness, authenand identity of these books. So their speech
'

ticity

spreadeth like a canker.'

'

It is

come then

to this,

that the system which founded itself upon the claim

to be essentially
in

and above

all Scriptural, is

ending

denying the inspiration and authenticity of Holy

Scripture.

The guardianship of the Church being

by the act of separation from

its

unity

forfeited

even the

fragmentary Christianity which the separated bodies

carried away with them has dissolved, and the Sacred
1

2 Tim.

ii.

17.

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

208

Books have
tion

and

What

lost the divine evidence of their

inspira-

veracity.

has hitherto "been said will both explain and

refute two accusations

commonly brought

Catholic Church, the one that

it

against the

supersedes to so great

an extent the use of Scripture in the devotions of

people

the other, that

it

enunciates

its

its

doctrines in

an arbitrary and dogmatic way, regardless of the

facts of Christian antiquity and history.

Now,

as to the former.

unmeaning and untrue

In one sense

it is

simply

to say that the Church super-

sedes the use of

its people.

Holy Scripture in the devotions of

Of what is the Missal, the Breviary, the

Ritual, and all the public services composed but of

the very text of Holy Scripture

of

the faith,

every

sacrament,

Every doctrine

every

festival,

is

exhibited in the very words of the inspired books.

Every doctrine and sacrament becomes the centre

round about which the prophecies, types, and fulfil-

ments recorded in Holy Scripture are gathered. They

are clothed in a tissue of the inspired words, chosen

out and interwoven together with a supernatural dis-

They who by the grace

from
come
the
wilderness
into the true
of Grod have
cernment and combination.

can perhaps alone fully appreciate the change

from the level and dim surface of the Sacred Text as
fold,

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

209

read out of the Church, to the luminous distinctness,

the splendour, and the beauty of the very same words

when they

by the voice of the Church

are proclaimed

in the acts of

its

public worship.

From

of Scripture words hitherto passed over

every page
seem to rise

up as prophets, seers, and evangelists, and to speak

with an articulate and living voice of the presence
and power of the kingdom of (rod. It is as if David,
and Esaias, the Beloved Disciple, and the Apostle
of the Grentiles were speaking to us and worship-

ping with

us.

But the

objection

is

perhaps chiefly

intended in respect to the private devotions of the

whom

books of devotion written by uninspired men, rather than the Old or New Testament,
people, to

are generally given.

Now,

there

is

at

semblance of truth in the objection.

It

first
is

sight a

perfectly

true that manuals of devotion are distributed rather

than Bibles, and

for

many

sufficient and,

have thought, self-evident reasons.

From what has been already said,

we should

it is

manifest

that the revelation of Divine truth and will was

and independent of them

complete, and harmonious in itself:

anterior to all Scriptures

that it was

full,

was perfect in its unity, order, and relation

But it is equally manifest
of truth with truth.

that

it

that the

Scripture

afterwards

written,

though

it

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

210

and

recognises, presupposes
lation,

does not contain

does contain

is

it

refers

back to

as a whole,

this reve-

and what

to be found, not in order

it

and com-

pleteness, but detached and. scattered, so to speak,

here and there through the Sacred Text, which treats

and transitory events. It is

therefore, that the Church puts into

also of local, personal,

perfectly true,

hands of

the

its

people books of devotion which

represent the whole order and completeness of reve-

and not the partial and unordered aspect of

Those books contain the Baptismal Creed,
Scripture.
lation,

which enunciates in compendium the whole dogma of

faith

the Divine

as perfected

Law

by the

of the

Ten Commandments,

Grospel, not the extinct

tical

injunctions of the Jews

Holy

Trinity, of the

the Holy Sacraments,

Sabba-

the mysteries of the

Incarnation and Passion

their

divine

intention

of

and

supernatural grace, with the practices and counsels of

penance and piety, whereby to prepare for their reThe Church teaches its people
caption, and the like.

now

to worship

and adore the Divine Presence in the

midst of

us, as it did

before

written

as it did, too,

when the

dom had no

the

Scriptures

were

millions of Christen-

Scriptures in their hands, because the

modern invention of printed books was not

knowD, when,

too,

as yet

they could not have read those

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

books even

if

they had possessed them

211

which was

always the state of the multitude, and probably

always will be, to the end of the world. God has prepared for the poor and the unlearned a rule of faith,

and a practice of devotion,

unerring and com-

full,

passionately fitted to their needs, anterior in time to

all Scriptures,

But

and

them.

essentially independent of

as the objection is not confined to the poor, so

neither must the answer be.

And

perhaps there can

hardly be found a more pointed and exact illustration

of the argument of this chapter.
It

certain, then, that the practice of Catholics is

is

not so

much

to

make

use of the text of Scripture in

But

their devotions as of devotional books.

are those books composed

of

what

Take, for example, the

whole class of books used for meditation or mental
prayer.

They

are from first to last the text of

Holy
Such books are

Scripture expounded and applied.

almost innumerable in the Catholic Church.

spiritual exercises of S. Ignatius,

tions and commentaries

and

all

The

the exposi-

upon them, and all the count-

volumes of meditations for every day in the year

which have sprung out of them, what are all these
but Holy Scripture brought home to the people
less

in the minutest and most practical

way

Catholic Church such works hardly

p 2

exist.

Out of the
English

212

THE RELATION' OF THE HOLY GHOST

have

Protestants

Scripture

certain

Commentaries on Holy

but these do not supply that which the

Catholic Church multiplies and puts into the handsof its people with such abundance, that no thoughtful

Catholic

is

without a book of devout meditation upon

Holy Scripture.
I do not here stop to answer the strange

and ex-

travagant pretensions of using Holy Scripture

'

with-

It is enough to answer, God

and comment on Holy Scripture
can exclude if he would. No man can

out note or comment.'

has given a note

man

which no

disregard without

the Church, the Faith, the Holy

Sacraments, and finally the living Voice of His Spirit
sin,

speaking through the Church in every age, as in the

age before the Scriptures were written.
But,
plete

finally, there is

one more practical and com-

answer to this objection.

Catholics

readily

admit that they do not go to the text of Scripture

for their devotion, as others do who are out of the
unity of the Church.

The reason cannot be

better

given than in the words which history ascribes to one

It is said that Henry III. of

of our English kings.

England was asked by S. Louis of France why he

went so often to mass and so seldom to sermon he
;

answered
with

my

'

Because I had rather speak face to face

It is the
friend, than hear about him.'

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

213

consciousness of the presence of Jesus, God and man,

in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar which draws
all eyes

where

and

He

all

is

sent to us.

up His

S.

personally present.

that the Scriptures are

'

Epistles,

to the point

Augustine says

the Epistles of the

But when the King

Him

hearts round about

and speak with

is

Him

'

King
with us we lay

as friends read

the letters of an absent friend, but turn to him when

among them. The perpetual, daily, hourly

worship and communion with our Divine Master,
he

is

which

is

equally intelligible, personal, and all-suf-

and to the poor, to the learned and

child, and indeed more realised and

ficing to the rich

to the

little

known by the

hearts of the poor

than by any others

this it is

and of children

which renders the text

of Holy Scripture, loved and honoured as

it is, less

necessary to the disciples of the Church of Jesus

Christ.

The
is

other objection I shall touch but briefly.

It

often said that Catholics are arbitrary and positive

even to provocation in perpetually affirming the inand infallibility of the Church, the

divisible unity

primacy of the Holy See, and the

like,

without re-

gard to the difficulties of history, the facts of anIt is

tiquity, and the divisions of Christendom.
1

S.

Ans.

in Psalmos, torn. iv. 1159.

THE KELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

214

implied by this that these truths are not borne out

by history and
with

it

fact

that they are even irreeoncileable

that they are no more than theories, pious

opinions, assumptions, and

therefore

visionary

and

false.

We
would

and

Catholic

take what our objectors call history, fact,

them deduce

antiquity, and the like, and from

faith

No

very frankly accept the issue.

first

for

his

was revealed

this reason, the faith

and taught before history, fact, or antiquity existed.

These things are not the basis of his faith, nor is the
examination of them his method of theological proof.
The Church, which teaches him now by its perpetual
living voice, taught the same faith

before as yet

The
Church had a history or an antiquity.
rule and basis of faith to those who lived before

the

either the history or antiquity

so

much

existed,

is

of

which we hear

the rule and basis of our faith

now.

But perhaps

may be

asked

'

If

you reject history and antiquity, how can you know what was revealed before, as you say, history and antiquity existed ?

'

it

I answer

The enunciation

the living Church of this hour,

is

of the faith

the

maximum

by
of

evidence, both natural and supernatural, as to the

fact and the contents of the original revelation.

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

know what

are revealed there not

by

215

retrospect, but

by listening.
Neither is this the Catholic method of theological

Let us try

proof.

it

by a

Would

parallel.

so argue, try the doctrine of the

the same method

Would they

those

who

Holy Trinity by

consider

it

arbitrary

and unreasoning to affirm that Grod is one in nature

and three in person, until we shall have examined

the history and facts of antiquity that is, until we

shall have heard and appreciated the Sabellian,
Arian, Semiarian, and Macedonian heresies ? Or take
the doctrine of the Incarnation.

Are we to take the

Monophysite, Monothelite, and Apollinarian heresies,

and modify a doctrine of the Incarnation in conform
ity to these facts ?

Was not

the doctrine of the Holy

Trinity and of the Incarnation revealed, preached,

and believed throughout the world before there were
Sabellians or Nestorians to

Was not the unity and

deprave these truths

infallibility of the Church and

the primacy of the Holy See instituted and believed

throughout the world before Montanists, or Acephali,

No

sample of unconscious Rationalism can be given,

To discern
with regret, than the following words
the sacred past by the telescopic power of genius, and by the microchief ends for which
scopic power of scholarship, is one of the
1

better

though I quote

universities
exists.'

No.

'

it

and cathedrals are endowed, and

Theology

CCCCXXII.

of the Nineteenth Century.

p. 256.

for

which theology
Magazine

Eraser's

THE EELATIOX OF THE HOLY GHOST

21G

or Donatists, or Greeks arose to gainsay these facts ?

In truth, and at the

perverse method a
office

of the

root, is not this inverted

secret

Holy Ghost

The

first

and

tion to be asked of these controversialists

or do

you not believe that there

is

final quesis

Do you

a Divine Person

teaching now, as in the beginning, with a divine,

infallible voice

therefore
this

hour

is

the world

and

and that the Church of

the organ through which

If so, the history,

and

denial of the perpetual

He

speaks to

and antiquity, and

they are called, of the past vanish before the

facts, as

presence

which are divine

of an order of facts

namely, the unity, perpetuity,

Church of God

of the

infallibility

the body and visible witness of the

Incarnate Word, the dwelling and organ of the Holy

Ghost now as in the beginning the same yesterday,
:

to-day, and

for ever

its

own antiquity and

its

own

history.

Let no one suppose that Catholic theologians, in

refusing to follow the inverted and rationalistic method of extracting dogmas from the
for a

moment

insoluble, or

either

and the

The Fathers were the

disciples of the Church.

from

facts of history,

facts of history as

conceive that they are opposed to the

doctrines of faith.

faith

abandon the

it,

children

They learned their

and they expressed it partly in the

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

217

words the Church had taught them, partly when, as

lanyet, the Church had not fixed its terminology in

In the former, the Church recog-

guage of their own.

nises its

own

voice

in the latter,

tention even when their language

when they
it

they

knows their

is less

perfect.

in-

And

err, the Church both discerns and corrects

Church was their guide and teacher, not

If any one desire to see both proof and

for the

it

hers.

illustration of

what

is

lating to the

here said, let

him examine the

on the Patristic language

treatises of Petavius

Holy Trinity
him turn
;

accessible work, let

or, to refer to

re-

a more

to the language of the

Fathers on the Immensity of the Son in a well-known

work on the Development of Christian Doctrine. The

havoc made not only with the writings of the Fathers,

but with the doctrines of faith, by those who profess
to interpret them, apart from the lineal tradition of

the Church,
this

is

method.

As a

evidence enough of the falseness of

The only Father

reductio

ad

impossibile,

in

and I may

whom,

say,

it is said,

ad absurdum, the

We

must get rid of our preconceived

following words suffice
theories of what the Bible ought to be, in order to make out what it
'

really

is.

The immense layers of Puritanic, scholastic, papal, and

which intervene between us and tho Apostolic or

patristic systems,

Prophetic Ages the elevation of the point of view on which those

ages stand above our own aggravate the intensity of the effort to
the natural sluggishness of the human heart and intellect.'
Theology

of the Nineteenth Century.

Eraser's Magizine, p. 255.

It

would be

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GnOST

218

the

Church has noted no

works of
cannot.

its

own

disciples

Gregory of

error, is S.

The Church can

Nazianzum.

freely

criticise

for while they

may

the

err, it

And

the imperfect conceptions and imperfect definitions of individual Fathers of an

early age
are rectified
tative

by the mature conceptions and authoridefinitions of the Church in a later.

The ma-

turity of theology

is

not antiquity, but

its later

and language which was blameless in

simpler times, may become heterodox in

days

earlier

and

after ages

example, the procession of the Holy Ghost from

the Father through the Son, the Immaculate
for

Nativity

of the Mother of God, and the like.

which once was heterodox

Again, language

may become

the test of

Homoousion, which was condemned by

the Council of Antioch in the Sabellian sense, and in
truth, as the

half a century was inserted in the Creed

by the Council of Nice. No critic
except the living and lineal

judge
and discerner of truth, the only Church of God, can
solve these inequalities and anomalies in the history
of doctrine.

To the Church the

facts of antiquity

are transparent in the light of its perpetual consciousness of the original revelation.
'

harder to reconcile the immense layers of this counsel \rith

the simplicity of the Divino action, whereby in all ages, pawpcribus
'
evangclizatw, to the poor the Gospel is preached.'
still

'

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

Lastly, it

evident that in the Church alone the

is

and perfect meaning.

Scriptures retain their whole

We
'

hear to weariness of

alone;' but

210

how

men

that

is it

the Bible and the Bible

the right sense of the Bible

forget to add,

and

For what can add

?'

to,

more profoundly

or take from, or mutilate the Bible

than to misinterpret its meaning ? Is it Scriptural to

i
say that This is my body' does not signify that it is

His body

or

Whosesoever

sins ye forgive

the rock

not

this
'

or

'

rock

They

'

does
shall

or Thou art Peter,

mean that Peter is
anoint him with oil does

is

'

not

'

intend the use of oil?

Church

does not

'

convey the power of absolution

and upon

'

Surely the Scriptural

that which takes these words in this sense

of the divine facts and sacraments, which were be-

and venerated in the world before the Scripture was written.

lieved

Nay, more, the Church

Word
is

of God, that

it

acts

a strange thing to hear

so honours the written

upon

men

its lightest

doctrines are incredible because so little

them

in

Holy

Scripture.

word.

It

say that such and such

Is

is

said of

truth measured by

quantity? How many divine words are needed to

overcome the unbelief of men ? How often must
Grod speak before

we obey

must He repeat His

Him

How many

revelations before

we

will

times

submit

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

220

Does not every spark contain

the whole nature of fire? Does not every divine
to His divine voice

word contain the veracity of Cfod ? The Church of

God recognises His voice in every utterance, and
honours the divine will revealed in the fewest sylla-

The words

bles.

me

more than

is

'

He

world with disciples.

for

my

sake shall find

*

martyrs.
has
'

made

that loveth father or mother

not worthy of me,' has

Whosoever

'

filled

the

'Whosoever shall lose his

life

it,'

has multiplied the army of

me

shall confess

before men,'

the weakest dare the power of the world.

If thou wilt be perfect, sell all that thou hast,' has

The twenty-

created the state of voluntary poverty.

fifth

chapter of S.

Matthew has

the orders of active charity.

better

'

the Church with

filled

Mary hath chosen

part,' has created and sustained the

contemplative perfection.

the

life

of

These single words, once

spoken, are enough for the disciples of the Church,

which

is

the dwelling of the Holy Spirit of Truth

the Author of the Sacred Books.

faith in their sacredness

them up
nacle

in a tabernacle

of the

kiss the

Blessed

It

is

which made

this profound

S.

Paulinus lay

by the side of the Taber-

Sacrament

page of the Bible both

and

S.

before

Edmund
and

after

reading it; and S. Charles read it kneeling, with

bare head and knees.
So the Church cherishes its

TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

least jot or tittle,

than

life

itself.

and guards

And now

it as

it is

L>21

a deposit dearer

every day becoming

manifest that in the flood of unbelief pouring at this

time upon England, the sole barrier to the inundation,

the sole guardian and keeper of Holy Writ in all the
integrity of its text and meaning, the sole divine

witness of its inspiration, the sole, immutable, and

unerring interpreter of

and Eoman Church.

its

meaning

is

the Catholic

THE RELATION OP THE HOLY GHOST

222

CHAPTER

V.

THE DELATION OP THE HOLT GHOST TO THE DIVINE

TRADITION OF THE FAITH.

There now remains but one

purpose to speak.

other subject on which I

It has been affirmed in the last

chapter that Christianity whole and perfect was anterior to the records of
Scripture and independent of

them.

It remains

been preserved

now

to

'

pure

show that Christianity has

and unspotted from the

world,' that the illumination of Divine Truth, in the

midst of which the written record lies encompassed as

by a living and intelligent

and Divine Teacher, is at

came from the Father of

shadow of

alteration.

light, sustained

this

day

lights,

And

this

as it

by a living

was when

it

without change or

we

shall see

more

clearly by tracing the relation of the Holy Spirit to

the tradition of the dogma of faith.

But before
drawn

I enter

upon

to say a few words

this point I

am irresistibly

on the analogy between the

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 223

Church in Eome in the fourth century, and in England
in the present.

For three hundred years the mightiest empire the

world ever saw strove with

Church of God from

force could

do was

Church withdrew

all its

power to drive the

off the face of the earth.

and

tried,

itself,

but was

still visible.

shipped in catacombs, but bore its witness

When

dom.

All that

tried in vain.

the storm was overpast,

The

It wor-

by martyr-

it

ascended

from the windings of the catacombs to worship in the

basilicas of the empire. It must have been a
day full of
supernatural joy, a resurrection from the grave, when
the Christians of Eome met each other in the streets
of the city by the light of the
noonday sun.

In those

three hundred years a change altogether divine had

passed upon the empire. The world from which

the Church withdrew itself was compact, massive,

irresistible in its material

and

its

power,

profound immorality.

the gaze of the Church at

changed.
It

was in

above

all,

its

gross paganism,

The world which met

its rising

was altogether

Christianity had penetrated on every side.

all its

provinces, in all its cities, in

in its legions,

and

its fleets,

Eome

in the forum,

and in the palace of the Caesars. The

heathen world was dissolving and
passing away by

in the senate,

the twofold action of an internal

disintegration, and

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

224

of the expansion of the light of faith.

of the

Christian

the earth, and

its

The

outlines

world were already traced npon

rudiments were rising into visible

unity and order.

The image of the

city of Grod

hovered above the tumults and confusions of mankind, awaiting the time
clear

from the circuit of the

hindered

its

Like to
is

when the Divine

now

Roman

will should

world that which

peaceful possession.
this in

many ways

is

the change which

by the history of
which are now no more. It is a

before our eyes.

I pass

wrongs and sufferings

grievous and fearful tale, to be forgotten, if it may.
Let us turn to brighter things. For three hundred
years the Church in England has worshipped in secret,

withdrawn from the sight of man. After all its

it lived on, a vigorous and imperishable life,

wounds

and came forth once more, ascending from the catacombs to offer the Holy Sacrifice in stately sanctuaries,

and the
It is

light of noon.

now

hiding-place
far other

thirty years since it rose again from its

;

and the world which meets

than the world which drove

its

it

view

before

is

its

no more the whole people of England,

under a dominant hierarchy, armed with the power

face.

It sees

of law to persecute even to death the priest

who offers

the holy sacrifice, and to force an outward uniformity

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH

22o

upon the whole population. It does not any longer

see the Anglican Church sole and exclusive in its
and asserting authority over the English
The days of its supremacy are long gone.

privileges,

people.

England

is

now

in the possession of a multitude of

among which

sects,

and

the Church of the Reformation

kindred as one among many,

richer and more favoured by the higher classes, but
finds its place

content with

which

it

its

its

wealth and place, and the toleration

shares with others.

There are signs upon the horizon over the

Protestantism

is

going in England.
ration.

The

The

gone in Germany.

of religious thought

sea.

old forms

are passing

away. They are

Separation has generated sepa-

rejection of the Divine Voice has let

in the flood of opinion,

and opinion has generated

scepticism, and scepticism has brought on contenWhat seemed so solid once is

tions without an end.

disintegrated now.

It

is

dissolving by the internal

action of the principle from which

critical unbelief of

dogma

has

it

sprang.

now reached to

The

the foun-

dation of Christianity, and to the veracity of Scripture.

Such

is

the world the Catholic Church sees before

at this day.

The Anglicanism

upon the rocks, like some

of the Reformation

tall

the shore, and going to pieces by

Q

it
is

ship stranded upon

its

own weight and

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

226

We have no need of play-

the steady action of the sea.

ing the wreckers.

God knows

It

would be inhumanity to do

so.

that the desires and prayers of Catholics

are ever ascending that all which remains of Chris-

England may be preserved, unfolded, and

perfected into the whole circle of revealed truths and
tianity in

the unmutilated revelation of the faith.

table that if

It

is

inevi-

we speak plainly we must give pain and

who will not admit the possibility

offence to those

that they are out of the faith

Christ.

we

for
is

But

if

and Church of Jesus

we do not speak

shall betray our trust

a day coming,

plainly,

woe unto us,

and our Master.

when they who have

There

softened

down

the truth or have been silent, will have to give ac-

had rather be thought harsh than be conscious of hiding the light which has been mercifully
count.

shown to me.
in

If I speak uncharitably let

what words.

found

I will

make open

me be told

reparation if I be

in fault.

Now, what

wish to show in this chapter

is,

that the

real ultimate question between the Catholic Church

and all Christian bodies separated from it, is not one of

detail but of principle.

It

is

not a controversy about

indulgences, or purgatory, or invocations and the like,

but of the divine tradition of dogma,

and

its

purity.

its

certainty

The Catholic Church teaches

that,

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 227

as the preservation of the world is creation produced,

and a continuous action of the same omnipotence by

which the world was made, so the perpetuity of
revelation

sustained by the continuous action of

is

the same Divine Person from

whom

it

came.

All bodies in separation from the Church justify

their separation on the alleged necessity of reforming

the corruptions of doctrine which had infected the

Church and fastened upon the dogma of faith. But if

the same Person who revealed the truth still preserves
it,

then

it

as unreasonable for

is

reform the Church of

God

as it

man

to profess to

would be to endeavour

to uphold or to renew the world.

Men may

gird a

dome, or reform a political society, but they can no

more reform the Church of God than they can give
cohesion to the earth, or control the order of the
seasons or the precessions of the equinox.

God
forms

alone can reform His Church, and

it

by

itself

acting upon

itself,

He

re-

never by those

and oppose its divine voice,

God has reformed the Church by its Pontiffs, and its

who

refuse to obey

Councils.

it,

great part of the Pontifical law, and

the greater part of the decrees of Councils, as, for in-

and of Trent, are occupied with

the reformation not of the doctrines of the Church, but
stance, of Constance

the sins of men.

As each man can reform himself

Q 2

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

228

alone, so the

Church alone can reform

reformation

this

itself.

But

not enter into the divine

does

sphere of the faith or law of Jesus Christ, which

is

always pure and incorrupt, but into the wilderness of

human action, human traditions, and the sins which

by human perversity are always accumulating-.
Now,

my

contentions,

and

to

is

purpose

spiritual

show that the confusions,

miseries which have fallen

upon England, and which afflict us all both in public

and in private, have come from the pretension of

And

reforming the Church of Cfod.

to do so, it will

be enough to show, that God has so provided for His

Church as to render such a reformation not only
needless but impossible.

John writing

S.
first

to the faithful at the close of the

century, says

'

You have

the unction from

the Holy One, and know all things.

the unction which you have received from
.

in you.

And you have no need

that any

Let

Him abide
man

teach

you but as His unction teacheth you of all things,

and is truth, and is no lie and as it has taught you,
;

abide in Him.'

These words plainly affirm

1. That they had already received the unction of
:

the Spirit of Truth

and therefore that they had no

S.

John

ii.

20-27.

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 229

need to seek

a knowledge which they did not

for

had already received

possess, because they

it.

2. That they had no need of human teachers,

because they were already under the guidance of a
teacher who is Divine.
3.

That

was not partial but plenary,

things,' that is the whole reve-

this unction

and taught them

'

all

lation of the Faith.

4.

That

this unction is truth, absolute

5.

That

it is

'no

lie,'

hood, error, or doubt.

as

Ghost, who,

High
from

Priest

Him

But

first

Jesus,

and

perfect.

unmixed with any

false-

this unction is the

Holy

we have abundantly seen

rested

chapter,

is

in the first

upon the head of our Great

Head of the Church, and

the

descends upon His

which

body,

the

is

Church, and goes down to the skirts of His clothing,

to the least of His members, so long as they faithfully
abide in
is

Him

their head, through the

Church which

His body.
I do not

know

in

what words the

infallibility of

the Church and the immutability of

can be more amply

affirmed.

its

doctrines

For they declare

(1.)

that by the virtue of the perpetual presence of this

unction which is the Holy Ghost, the Church possesses the

whole revelation of

preserved by Divine assistance,

God

(2.) that

it

unmixed, and in

is

all

THE RELATION OP THE HOLY GHOST

230
its

purity

and, (3.) that

it is

enunciated perpetually

through the same guidance by a voice which cannot

lie.

Now

draw out the consequences of

let us

this

truth.
1.

The

to this

first is

that all the doctrines of the Church

day are incorrupt.

mean

that they are as

pure to-day as on the day of Pentecost

and that,

because they are

the perpetual utterances of the

Spirit of Truth,

whom the Church

by

ing and believing

duals

may

err,

is

both in teach-

preserved from error.

but the Church

is

Indivi-

not an individual.

body of a Divine head united indissolubly

to Him.
It is the temple of the Holy Ghost united
It is the

inseparably to His presence.

The illumination

of

the Spirit informs the collective and continuous intelligence of the

Church with adequate and precise

and the assistance of

conceptions of revealed truth,

the Holy Spirit guides and sustains the Church in

the adequate and precise enunciation of those conceptions.

And

this, as

we have

seen, constitutes the

active infallibility of the Church as a teacher,

exempt
from error because guided by a Divine Person. The
Church being the organ of His voice, the articulations
are

human but

To deny

the voice

this is to

is

Divine.

deny the perpetuity of truth,

TO THE DIVINE TEADIT10X OF THE FAITH.

and the

of the

office

guide of the

Holy
But

faithful.

231

Spirit as the perpetual

there be no Divine

if

no Divine certainty, and faith descends to opinion based upon human evidence and

teacher there

criticism.

is

But

we have

this, as

seen, is rationalism,

incipient or absolute, explicit or implicit.

But the

2.

doctrines of the Church are not only

incorrupt but incorruptible.

To be

incorruptible

not only a fact but a law of their nature.

cause

we deny the

Church

is

this

possibility of a reformation of the

as a witness or teacher of faith

and morals.

The need of such a reformation can never

is

For

exist.

It

the permanent and incorruptible doctrine of the

Church, which

is

the instrument of

If it be corrupted,

others

how

from corruption

shall

it

all

reformation.

reform or restore

If the salt have lost its

savour, wherewithal shall it be salted ?

I am not denying the existence of error and cor-

There has been enough of

but they have been the errors

ruption in Christendom.
all

kinds in every age

and corruptions of individuals, not of the Church.

They have existed within the Church till the Church
cast

them

out.

They never fastened upon the Divine

dogma, nor mingled themselves in the

Divine utterances or enunciations of the doctrines

tradition of

of faith.

The

errors of individuals cannot prevail

THE KELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

2.,2

depend on the
Church, not the Church on individuals. The Church
depends on its Divine Head, and upon the perpetual

against the

Individuals

Church.

presence of the Divine Person

who

inhabits

The

it.

Church, therefore, has an independent, absolute, and

It

objective existence.

a Divine creation depend-

is

ing upon the Divine will alone, the instrument of

probation to mankind.

It is the

Sacrament of Truth

men

which remains always the same whether

lieve or no.

Just as the Holy Eucharist

the same in the fulness of

its

grace, even though the priest

the multitude

who

the light of the sun

splendour though

is

all

always

Divine sanctity and

who

consecrates and

receive it be in sacrilege
is

be-

and

as

always the same in unchanging

men

were blind

truth and sanctity of the Church.

so

with the

No human

error

can fasten upon the supernatural consciousness of

the truth which pervades the whole mystical body,

and

this

passive

infallibility

trines of the faith whole

preserves

and incorruptible

the docin every

age.

All

this

is

more

emphatically

true

of

the

Teaching Church. The pastors of the Church may

by one, but the pastoral body can never err.
The chief Pastor is in the midst of them, and they,

err one

as

His

witnesses

and messengers, constitute the

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OP THE FAITH. 233

magisterium Ecclesice, the authoritative voice of

Here and there
the Church speaking in His Name.

among them, one by

individuals

one, have erred, but

their error has never fastened itself upon the authori-

Every age of
some
the Church has had
ages have had
heresy
many almost every heresy has had a pastor of the
tative inind

and voice of the Church.

its

sometimes a heresy has spread

wide both among pastors and flock multitudes have
been infected by it. But the mind and voice of the

Church

for its author

Church has never changed, never varied by an accent

As every age has had its heresy, so
or by an iota.
every heresy has been cast out
later,

some sooner, some

they were superficial

some with difficulty, because they were

some with

and weak

ease, because

tenacious and strong, like the diseases of a living

body, of which some are upon the skin, some in the
substance, but all alike are cast out by the vigour of

In this way every heresy has been

health and

life.

expelled.

What mark

did Sabellianism, Arianism,

Nestorianism, leave upon the

Church
evil,

Not

mind

or voice of the

a trace nor a tarnish of falsehood or of

but only a new precision of conception and ex-

pression, a

and a more

new

definition in the

mouth of its

pastors,

explicit faith in the hearts of its people.

The Church

is

the teacher

of the pastors, as

the

234

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

pastors are the teachers of the flock.

lium disclpulos
collective

Ecclesice, as S.

body of

its

pastors

is

Gregory

Church.

says,

and the

the organ of the Holy

Spirit of truth, and their voice

bility of the

Doctores fide-

is

the active infalli-

And the mind and

voice of the

Church are supernatural. I mean the world-wide

and continuous intelligence of the Church of all
nations and in all ages, which testifies as a witness

both natural and supernatural, to the facts of the

Incarnation and of Pentecost

and decides

as a

judge

with a supernatural discernment, and enunciates the

whole revelation of God as a teacher having authority

because of the divine illumination, the divine certainty,

and the divine assistance which abides with

From what

I have said it will be understood

individuals, people, or pastors

error leave no stain or trace

of the Church, either in

may

err,

upon the

it.

how any

and yet their

mind and

its belief or in its

voice

teaching

and how not only the truth in itself is incorruptible,

as it must be, and also its revelation, for that is God's
act,

but likewise

its

tradition

and enunciation in

the world, for these also are divine actions within

the sphere
speech,

of the

human

intelligence

and human

whereby both the thoughts and words of

the Church are divinely assisted to perpetuate the

original revelation of the continuous

operation

of

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 235

the same Divine Person

who

revealed the faith to

men.
3.

But that which

is

is

incorruptible

immutable,

and the doctrines of the Church are the same to-day

as in the beginning.

not

All corruption

all

there

is

change, but

a change which

is

change corruption
destroys, and a change which perfects the identity of
:

All growth

things.

is

change.

forest tree in its

majesty of spread and stature, has perfect identity

with the acorn from which it sprang, but the change
of ages which has passed upon
its stateliness

by unfolding
But all decay
forest

droops

dust about

Now,

its

is

perfects its identity

it,

and beauty.

change.

When

branches, dies,

its root, this

change

in this latter fense

of the dead but of the living.

is

falls

into the

corruption.

change

the doctrines of the Church, for

the tree of the

and

is

God

impossible in

is

not the Grod

His Church

of His Son, and has life in itself, and all

is

its

the body
doctrines

and sacraments are the expressions of the character

of His life which quickens it.

Take the

history of any doctrine in proof.

Trace

the dogma of the Holy Trinity from the Baptismal

formula to the Baptismal creed, to the definitions of
Nice and Constantinople, and to the precision of the
creed of S. Athanasius.

There

is

here growth, ex-

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

23G

pansion, maturity, and therefore change, but absolute

So again trace the doctrine of the

Incarnation from the simple formula, ' the Word was

identity of truth.

made

to the definitions against the Monothe

Monothelites, the Apollinarians, to the
physites,
flesh,'

Cur Deus Homo

Suarez

of S. Anselm, and the treatises of

the intellectual conception and verbal ex-

pression have received a vast

truth

is

identical,

namely, God

natures in one Divine person.

but the

expansion,

Incarnate, two perfect

Or once more, the

doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist in all

its

aspects as

a Sacrament, and as a Sacrifice, and as an object of

adoration,

is

no more than the words

'

This

is

My

body,' in the fulness of their intellectual conception.

And
is

lastly,

no more

the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

than the last analysis in a long series of

intellectual processes

by which the belief of the whole

Church from the beginning in the absolute sinlessness

of the mother of (rod has found its ultimate expression.

These four doctrines, as they are propounded

now, are identical with the

same four doctrines

as

they were propounded in the beginning. They have

been unfolded into more explicit enunciation by a

more

precise intellectual conception and a

verbal expression, but they are the

identity.

more exact

same in

Just as the gold from the mine

all their
is

always

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OP THE FAITH. 237

same though in the succession of times and

dynasties it receive new images and superscriptions.
the

So

far,

then, truth

Such, however,

may grow but

never change.

not the case with doctrines

is

which are separated from the unity of the Church

and the custody of the Divine Teacher who sustains
Trace the history of the Holy Trinity

the Faith.

from Sabellius to Socinus, or of the Incarnation from

Nestorius to Strauss, or of the Holy Eucharist from

Luther to the present sacramentarian unbelief which

overspreads England

or the article of the

One Holy

Catholic Church from the Keformation to this day in

and in the Anglican Church only, in

which no definition can be obtained whether the

England

alone,

Church be

visible or invisible, numerically

only morally one, that

is,

divisible into

one or

many

parts

and yet called one, though it be a plurality of independent and conflicting bodies. This is change inThe
deed, in which the identity of doctrine is lost.
oak has mouldered and fallen into

its dust.

mean by the immutability of

doctrines.
They are identical in number and in
Their disc and circumference are now as they
kind.
This then

is

what

were when they were

first

traced on the minds of the

Apostles by the light of the Spirit of God.

have come down to us through

all ages,

They

and in the

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

2:38

midst of

all heresies,

illuminating

all

intelligences

and conforming them to the truth, but receiving no

tarnish or soil from the human intellect, just as the
light of heaven pierces through the mists

and

tilences of the world,

is

and pes-

in contact with all its

corruptions and impurities without a shadow of stain

or alteration.

The

doctrines of the Church then are as

as the light

and undiminished

of truth, which like Jesus

and the same

4.

'

is

unmixed

in all the perfections

yesterday and to-day,

for ever.'

And from

this

a fourth truth immediately

lows, that the doctrines of the

Church in

all

fol-

ages are

was the charge of the Eeformers that

primitive.
the Catholic doctrines were not primitive, and their
It

pretension was to revert to antiquity. But the appeal

to antiquity

is

both a treason and a heresy. It is a

it rejects the Divine voice of the

treason because

Church

and a heresy because

at this hour,

that voice to be Divine.

How

it

denies

can we know what

antiquity was except through the Church

No indi-

vidual, no number of individuals can go back through

eighteen hundred years to reach the doctrines of antiquity.
'

We may

say with the

Sir, the well is deep,

with.'

No

woman

of Samaria,

and thou hast nothing to draw

individual

mind now has

contact with

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 239

the

Pentecost,

except

through the

Historical evidence and Biblical criticism

Church.
are

of

revelation

human

after all,

and amount at most

no more

to

human judgment, human

than opinion, probability,

tradition.

Divine.

It

is

necessary that the channel he divinely

But

constituted and preserved.

ter

faith be

enough that the fountain of our

It is not

we have

in the second chap-

seen that the Church contains the foun-

and

tain of faith in itself,

is

not only the channel

divinely created and sustained, but the very presence

of the spring-head of the 'water of

and ever flowing in

life,

ages of the world.

all

ever fresh
I

may say

in strict truth that the Church has no antiquity.

rests

upon

its

sciousness.

own supernatural and perpetual con-

Its past is present

one to a mind which

modern are

It

with

immutable.

is

it,

for

both are

Primitive and

predicates, not of truth, but of ourselves.

The Church

always primitive and always modern

at one and the same time
and alone can expound
is

its

own mind,

as

an individual can declare

For what

man, but the

spirit of a

things also that are of

Spirit of God.'

The only Divine evidence

1

his

own

man knoweth the things of a

man that is in him ? So the
God no man knoweth, but the

thoughts.

'

Cor.

ii.

11.

to us of

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

240

what was primitive is the witness and voice of the

Church at this hour.

But

though the Catholic doctrines are

incorrupt, incorruptible, immutable, and therefore
always primitive by virtue of the Divine custody and
5.

lastly,

enunciation of the Spirit of Truth, nevertheless they

are transcendent

that

is,

they pass beyond the limits

and horizon of our reason, and that because they are

truths of the supernatural order.

world of which

all

They belong

to a

the proportions surpass and over-

whelm our powers of thought. They

are not discoveries

of the reason but revelations of God, and as such, to

be received by faith. They must first be believed

before they can be understood, for faith generates

Augustine said to the heretics of

sed
Intellige ut credas verbum meuni

intelligence.
his day,

'

S.

crede ut intelligas
I say that
says that

know the

verbum

you may

Dei.'

believe

it.

you may understand

supernatural order,

'

Understand what

Believe what
it.'

How

its limits,

and doctrines except God had revealed

And

God

should we

operations,

it ?

these truths are but revealed in part, and

can therefore only be known in part.

They are
like the path of a comet which eludes our calculation, or like electricity

which renders no account of

itself, or like the pencil

by which the sun draws the

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH.

images of nature

all

these are facts undoubted, in-

dubitable, yet inexplicable

known

241

and,

if

they were not

would be incredible.

scientific truths,

with the truths of revelation

So

it is

for instance, the origin

of evil, the freedom of the will under the operation of

grace

the end of evil

the eternity of punishment

the solution of the world and of the

life

of

man

as a

probation for eternity.

And

yet these

very doctrines, because they are

transcendent, axe all the

more evidently divine.

They

have the perfection of Grod upon them. They surpass

our finite intelligence, because they are the outlines
of truths proportionate to the infinite intelligence.
If they presented nothing that I cannot understand,

they would present nothing that I might not have

'

Credo quia impossible' is a great truth,

though a paradox. If it were possible to man, there
would be no need of the revelation of Grod. The

invented.

footprint of a

of

God

man

betokens man.

The

footprints

point to a Divine Presence as their only cause.

The only

feet

which could impress them are those

For instance, the

which walked upon the water.

doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, of the

of Saints,

with

its

of

Communion

the Church, one, visible, indivisible,

supernatural light and divine infallibility,

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

242

wisdom which transcends our

these point to a

all

reason, as

heaven transcends the earth.

Such, then,

is

dogma which

the tradition of

de-

scends perpetually in the Church, and such the relation of the Holy Spirit of Truth to that tradition.

He

is its

Author and

the light by which

He both diffuses

Guardian.

its

it is

known and

conceived, and

presides over the selection of the terms in which

it is

defined and enumerated.

And

here I might leave the subject, but that, in

this day, the

matic

old pretension of reforming the dog-

teaching

Church has been renewed

of the

under a more specious form. It is now alleged that

the old dogmatic formulas were a true expression of
the rude and uncultured religious
or

early

human

Middle Ages

in

intelligence

thought of the

that

the progress of the

the

matter

thought demands a new expression

pression will not be dogmatic, but
tual

;'

of its

'

of

Christian

that this ex-

moral and

spiri-

that the nineteenth century has a theology

own, which, if not already formed, is forming

under intellectual and

mentum

of which

dogmatism

is

the ground.

mation.

All

spiritual

is irresistible.

said to be dead

This

is

impulses, the

The

mo-

old Catholic

and only cumbering

a reformation upon the Refor-

dogmatism

Lutheran, Calvinistic, and

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 243

Anglican

must

to

yield

spiritual insight into the

newer,

deeper,

more

moral idea of Christianity.

little, and then

Let us examine these pretensions a

conclude.
a former

In
truths

known

have affirmed that the

chapter

to the natural reason, or

by the light

of nature, have been transmitted as an intellectual

tradition in the society of

which

and

mankind.

relate to the existence

to the

moral nature

and immutable.
tural theology

These truths,

and perfection of God,

of

man, are permanent

what is called na-

constitute

They
and philosophy.

Upon

the basis of

these certain, fixed, and permanent truths has been

raised a structure of metaphysical

and

ethical sys-

tems, which are related to the primary philosophy

as dialects are related to a language.

Such are the

philosophies which have multiplied themselves both

before the faith entered into the world and since.

Now, these secondary formations

in

great

tentative,

part,

transient.

They

arise

or philosophies are,

uncertain, mutable, and

and pass away without at

all

shaking the permanence of the primary stratum upon

which they

all

repose.

The enunciation of these

be called the axioms or dogmas

primary truths

may

of philosophy.

I affirm that these

dogmas of philo-

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

244

sophy are fixed and immutable, because the truths

they express are so. For instance, the existence of

God, His moral perfections, the moral nature of man,

his freedom of moral action, his responsibility, and
the like, are fixed and immutable truths.

now

and certain

as true

as they

They can never become more

ning.

fixed, or

They

are

were in the beginor less true,

but continue permanently in the

certain,

same certainty and

veracity.

For

this reason the

verbal expression or dogmatic form of them is likeTh3 cry or the pretension

wise fixed and permanent.
of a

new philosophy

to replace the old, contains a

tacit denial of the certainty of these

It

is

under a mask.

scepticism

sphere of the secondary or

there

may

be

many

the

human

deductive philosophies

modifications and steps of pro-

The former

gressive exactness.

primary truths.
In the order or

are the axioms of

reason, which stand for ever, like the

lights of the firmament, steadfast and changeless.

The same may be

which consists in a

said of the scholastic theology,

scientific

treatment of revealed

primary and of the secondary order.

Those of the primary order are the truths which are

truths, both of the

expressly revealed
clusions

those of the secondary, the con-

which are deduced from them by process of

reasoning.

TO THE DIVINE TEADITIOX OP THE FAITH. 245

Now, the former order of primary truths is permanent and immutable. In the secondary order of
deductions
fications

it is

and modi-

possible that verifications

may from

But the

age to age be admitted.

tradition or transmission of this whole order of truths,

both primary and secondary, constitutes the theology

of the Church.

And

this

butes itself according to

'

its

Science of Grod

'

distri-

subject-matter into dog-

matic, which treats of Grod and His works in nature and

grace

to Gfod

into moral, which treats of the relations of man

and

to his fellows

into ascetical, which treats

of the discipline of penance and obedience

and into

mystical, which treats of the union of the soul with

Grod, and its perfection.
Now, all these four branches

of theology have their primary and their secondary

truths.

The

latter spring

from the former and re-

In the latter we may conceive of

pose upon them.
a progressive exactness, always retaining their contact with the
all.

primary truths, which are the base of

But the primary truths

are truths of revelation,

the knowledge of which resides immutably in the

intelligence of the Church.

They

are fixed truths,

and their verbal expressions are fixed dogmas, true in

every age, and not less or more true than they were,
nor ever will be.

For what

lectual conception

and verbal expression of

is

dogma but

the intela divine

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

'216

truth

But

as these truths can never vary, so neither

An immu-

the conception and expression of them.

table body casts an

A fixed form

immutable shadow.

The

original

never varies, therefore the reflection cannot.

Of an

describes a fixed outline

upon a mirror.

image must be always the same.

For instance, the unity of God is an eternal truth.
eternal truth the

The proposition that God is One is a dogma that He

One in nature, Three in person that the Three
;

is

Persons are co-equal and co-eternal;

infinite in

His perfections

fountain of Godhead

that the Son

gotten of the Father alone

that

that the Father

is

God
is

is

the

eternally be-

that the

Holy Ghost
proceeds from the Father and the Son, and
which might be indefinitely multiplied in

eternally

the like,

enumeration, are eternal truths, and their outlines,

and images on the human intelligence,

both of the Church and of the individual, are fixed
and immutable dogmas.
reflections

So again to take another order of truths. That

that God is present with His

(rod created the world

creation

that His

that

He

governs

mind and

it

in the order of nature

will are its laws both in their

permanent operations and in their exceptional suspension and change all these are divine truths, and

the verbal expressions of them are dogmas

permanent

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 247

because the truths are immutable, and immutable

because true.

God

Again, that

has redeemel the world

that the

Son was made man of a virgin mother that He lived

on earth, taught, worked miracles, chose and ordained
;

founded His Church, instituted sacraments,

apostles,

died, rose

ever

all

ascended into heaven, sent the

again,

Holy Ghost

and to teach in His stead

to abide

these are both divine truths in their

for

own

objective subsistence, in the order of divine facts,

and

also

dogmas in

verbal expression

become

less

their intellectual conception

and

as

and

these truths can never

true, nor lose their value or place

or

God, and to the soul of man,

neither can the dogmas which express them.

relation to the will of

so

And

lastly,

that I

may

not waste more time over

a subject which, but for the almost incredible confusions of thought

should not so

Church

is

and language now prevalent,

much

as

have

introduced that

the

one and indivisible, singular in existence,

the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the organ of His

voice

indefectible in its

life,

immutable

in its

ledge of the truths revealed, and infallible

articulate enunciation of

them

Holy Ghost

in

its

that the sacraments

are channels of grace, each after

operations of the

know-

its

kind

that the

as the illuminator

and

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

243

sanctifier of the

Church and of

its

members

are per-

go no further all these are divine and

petual
permanent and immutable truths, and therefore
the intellectual conception and verbal expression of
to

them become

What
with

fixed

then

all its

and unchangeable dogmas.

dogmatic theology, taken as a whole,

contents, but the intellectual conception
is

and verbal expression of the revelation of God,

truth by truth, and therefore dogma by dogma a
;

fixed, permanent, and immutable transcript upon the

human mind, and a perpetual and changeless enun-

ciation of the

same truth with

which constitute

its

all its intrinsic

truths

outline and complete

perfect

integrity ?
I can perfectly understand the consistent rationalist

when he

it

dogmatic theology, because he disbewhole order of divine truths and facts which

rejects

lieves the

expresses.

When
away.

When the body falls the shadow vanishes.

the original ceases to exist, the reflection passes

This

when the

is

intelligible

inconsistent

and coherent.

and incipient

Again,

rationalist rejects

those facts of dogmatic theology, or those particular

dogmas which express certain particular truths and

facts

which he

and consistent.

disbelieves,

But when

belief in the divine truths

this also is intelligible

he, professing to retain a

and

facts of Christianity,

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 249

denounces dogmatic theology and the tradition of
dogma, this in educated and cultivated men is an
obliquity which

intellectual

solutions, either that

one of two

suggests

from want of systematic and

orderly study he has only an incomplete and fragmentary knowledge of what dogmatic theology is,
or that

a warp in

which influence the

the

moral habits and temper

intellect, or at least the

tongue,

than his own proper stature as a

And yet this language is not only heard

makes him
reasoner.

less

from writers of high name and true cultivation, but

is
becoming prevalent, and rising into the ascendant
at this time. 1
1

An

instance of this

may

be seen in a paper entitled Theology of

the Nineteenth Century, in the number of Fraser's Magazine already

quoted, in which the writer, after everywhere denouncing dogmatic

'

theology, especially the scholastic, speaks as follows

May I take
as an illustration the very corner-stone of Christianity, the Divine
:

subject of the Gospel of history? A common mode of dealing

with this sacred topic has been to take certain words Christ
Messiah Son of God Son of Man two natures one Person
two wills one substance, and without defining the meaning of these

words, without describing what moral or spiritual truths were intended to be conveyed by them, to arrange them in the most logical
way that could be found, and to justify that arrangement by sepa'

rate Scripture texts

This kind of theology the writer
(p. 262).
designates as barren.' But in this passage the writer seems to show,
'

either that he has never studied dogmatic theology, in which every

term such as nature, person, will, substance, &c, has as precise and
definite a value as the algebraic symbols
or, that he does not
know the limits of dogmatic and mystical theology, under which
the moral and spiritual truths are classed and treated.
;

'

'

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

250

and reason ers would only be so

positively what truths and facts of

If such writers

good

as to state

Christianity they do really hold,

able to understand them.

But

we should be
it is

better

to be feared that

would lay open a great

waste of unbelief which lies hid under a cloud of

to extract this confession

Such a

words.

test

two consequences.

would inevitably produce one of

Either it would show that under

the rejection of dogmatic theology lies concealed a

tacit denial of the Divine truths and facts which it
expresses

or that such theologians,

when constrained

put into definite words what Divine truths and

facts they do believe, would be convicted, within that

to

being as dogmatic as those they assail.

None but obscure or inconsecutive minds can long
circle, of

Divine truths
play fast and loose between affirming

and denouncing dogmatic theology.

One frequent cause

of all this confusion

found in the fact, that

above

all in

of dogmatic,

among

is

to be

non-Catholic writers?

England, the distinctions and boundaries

moral, ascetic and mystical theology are

Men

speak of theology, meaning dogma only

and seem to be unconscious of the other branches of

lost.

Divine truth, and the separate cultivation which the

Church has given to them. Nothing proves this

more evidently than the astonishing

assertion that a

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 251

dogmatic
it
'

treatise

on the Incarnation

does not teach us what was

the

Lord

delineation of the

and again,

1
:

human

'

friend raises

It is

'

is

barren because

the real

character

'

'

mind and

of our Divine

about as true to say that a

and benefits us in proportion

to

the correctness of our theory of his character, as to

say that Grod does so in proportion to the accuracy of

our speculative creed.'

ments

would say

As a parallel to these state-

'

Astronomical demonstrations are

barren because they do not teach us ' the real mind,"
"
nor " delineate the character of Grod. Correct knowledge

is useless

benefit those

because

who

it

possess

does not alone raise and

Can there be found

it.'

in

all the writers and preachers out of reverence to the

saints, fathers, doctors, theologians of the Catholic

Church

I will not so

so senseless as to

much

as

name them

anyone

imagine that dogmatic theology

is

directed to the delineation of the character of our

Divine Master, or that correct intellectual knowledge

of the whole science of Grod without the illumination

and correspondence of the heart and will could raise

and benefit,' if that means sanctify and save, those who
'

possess
1

p.

it ?

This seems to be a solemn or a superficial

Theology of the Nineteenth Century.

282.
2

Spectator,

March

25, 1865, p. 331.

Fraser's Magazine, ut supra,

trifling
if

with sacred things

they had the

will,

in

which men might learn

and are therefore culpable,

affect to criticise or to teach.

if

If

being ignorant they

they would give themselves the trouble to open the

book of elementary theology, they would learn

that dogmatic theology is directed to the intellect and
first

mystical theology to the will

is

that dogmatic theology

said to perfect the intellect because it elevates

informs
it to

it

and

with revealed truth, and thereby conforms

the Divine intelligence in so far as these truths

of revelation are known.

It

is

therefore both true

and evident that dogmatic theology does most lumithe

nously and supernaturally raise and benefit
'

'

human intelligence. It makes a man capable of serving God by the reasonable service of faith. Whether
'

'

he does
is,

so or not,

depends upon moral conditions, that

upon the conformity of the

will to the dictates of

which has thus been already conformed to

the truth and mind of Grod.
his reason,

not from dogmatic theology, but from

moral theology, that a man must learn the obligations

But

it is

of the Divine will upon the

human

will.

Dogmatic
moral

theology enunciates to us the Divine truth

theology expounds

formation of
theology.

Its

to us the Divine law.

the will

maturity

is

is

The

first

accomplished by moral

committed

to ascetic, its

TO THE DIVIXE TRADITION OP THE FAITH. 253

But these last three

perfection to mystical theology.

provinces of theology, under which

lates to the

Lord, and
life

of

that re-

moral character of Gfod and of our Divine

all

God

falls all

that relates to the interior and spiritual

and of the soul in

in the soul,

to be wholly

unknown

seem

Grod,

to the confident critics of these

In all the theology, so to speak, of the Anglican Church, I know of no attempt to treat of moral
theology or to supply the blank and void which the
days.

Eeformation has made in this province of the Divine

'
truth, except Andrewes'
Exposition of the Ten

Commandments,' Taylor's Ductor Dubitantium,' and

'

Sanderson's

'

And

Cases of Conscience.'

know

of

no three works that have fallen into more utter oblivion.

The other writings

of all three are known,

read and quoted, but most rarely are these moral or

ethical writings so

much

staked his fame on the

as

named.

the atmosphere in which he left

would not

suffer it to

And

yet Taylor

Ductor Dubitantium

'

live.

it

was

Of the

'

but

fatal,

and

ascetical

and

'

Holy Living
and Dying,' what one book can be named which premystical theology, excepting Taylor's

sents a detailed treatment, or so

of the spiritual

and

much as an outline,
And yet it is

interior life ?

out of the midst of this barrenness and desolation

that the voices are lifted

up

to denounce

dogmatic

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

254

theology because

it

does not direct itself to

fulfil

that

which the Church accomplishes with an exuberance

of culture in its moral, ascetical and mystical theology,
while the Protestant and Anglican systems never ac-

complish

it

at all. It

is

a significant fact that the devo-

tional books in the hands of Protestants are to a great

extent translations or adaptations of Catholic works.

have been led to say thus much in order to

preclude certain objections which may be expected
to what I have affirmed in this and the previous

Now,

chapters on the tradition of dogma, and the dogmatic

theology of the Catholic Church and I do so the

more carefully, because the scope of this work has
;

hitherto limited our thoughts to the truths of revelation, as they are impressed

by the divine intelligence

upon the

human

me

more than recognise

to do

reason.

But

it

is

impossible for

in passing the vast

and

wonderful structure of moral wisdom rising from the

basis of the revealed perfection
is

and law of God which

contained in the moral theology of the Church.

The works

of the moral theologians form a library

by themselves.

One

of

them alone

in his writings has

quoted and consulted nearly eight hundred authors

of all nations.
The elaborate and perpetual study of

upon the common and statute law of the

faint analogy of the scientific and exact
realm

jurists

is a

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 255

treatment of the natural and revealed law of

God by

the councils and theologians of the Church

which,

expounding that

in

guarding

from

error.

ascetical theology I will not here attempt

Of the
to speak

it

has a divine assistance

law,

but

writers from S.

who have

any one will trace down the line of

Nilus and Cassian to the present day,

if

treated specifically

and in minute

detail of

the way and instruments of conversion and penance,

and of the example and character of our Divine Lord
they will seem to survey the reaches
of a great river from some height, where the breadth,
can be seen at a
depth, and fulness of the stream

in His active

life,

glance.

But the exhibition

moral and spiritual

to be seen in its fulness

of the

significance of Christianity

is

and maturity nowhere

as in the mystical theology of

the Catholic Church.

First of all in the devotions of

which the Incarnation

is

in the devotion of the

Holy Name

Bernard, and
Colombini, and
S.

S.

the object,

as, for instance,

of Jesus, of

which

Bernardine of Sienna, the B. John

S. Ignatius are the four chief foun-

tains.

Next in the devotion of the Blessed Sacrament in

all its

and

forms and manifestations, of which S. Anselm,

S.

Bonaventure, and S. Thomas are luminous

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

25G

examples, in the midst of a cloud of saints and ser-

who by their lives, their preaching,

and their writings, have exhibited the mind and
delineated the character of Jesus, both as God and
vants of God,

man, with a fulness, vividness, tenderness, intimacy

and truth, to which no uncatholic writer upon record,

much

in any age of the world, has ever approached so

as afar off.

Again, in the devotion of the Sacred Heart, which

is emphatically and articulately the expression of
that aspect of the Incarnation and of the Blessed

Sacrament which exhibits the mind and character,

the personal love and personal relation of our Divine

Lord to

us,

and ours to

Him

again.

gustine to the Blessed Margaret

From

Au-

S.

Mary, there

is

an

unbroken line of saints and writers who not only

exhibit this personal aspect of our Saviour to us, but

who

are witnesses of

what the Church,

those centuries, was teaching to

its

the time of the Blessed Margaret

Mary to

all

through

children.

From

this day, the

multitude of writers who have brought out this moral

and

spiritual idea of the Incarnation is literally almost

without number.

who has not

There

hardly a spiritual writer

treated or touched upon

a manual of devotion
is

is

or a

it.

There

is

not

book of prayer in which

not prominently set forth.

it

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 257

Moreover, every year by the festivals of the Holy
Name, the Blessed Sacrament, and of the Sacred
Heart, this spiritual teaching

is

made

perpetual and

universal.

beyond my present purpose to do more than

mention the Devotions of the Crucifix, of the Five
It is

Sacred Wounds, of the Passion, of the Most Precious

Blood, with

all

the feasts and practices of mental

What are these but

prayer founded upon them.
the most vivid and intimate delineations of the
mind and

character of our Divine

Kedeemer

let
Lastly, for I cannot here pursue the subject,

any one with the

least claim to

be a scholar examine

the four families of mystical writers, saints, and theoof Paradise, water
logians, which, like the four rivers

namely, the Benedictine, the

Dominican, the Franciscan, and the Jesuit espeon the
cially the last, in its innumerable works
the Church of Grod

Spiritual Exercises of S. Ignatius

and

if

he be a

competent scholar and a candid man, I am confident

that he will acknowledge first, that no communion or

body separated from the Catholic and Roman Church

has ever produced any exhibition of the mind and
character of Jesus, or of the moral and spiritual idea
of Christianity, I will not say equal in proportion
or in fulness, but so

much
s

as like in kind, to the

THE RELATION OF THE HOLY GHOST

258

mystical theology which, traceably from the

tury to the nineteenth, has watered the

The words

of the psalmist

stream of the waters of

banks -

its

'

may

life,

fifth

cen-

Church of God.

be truly said of this

ever full and overflowing

fluminis

impetus lgetificat civitatem

And next, he will be constrained to confess that

Dei.'
all this

diffused

exuberance of the interior spiritual life has

itself throughout the Church under the

direction of the most rigorous and inflexible dogmatic

theology, which has

hung suspended with

all its

con-

stellations of truths over the surface of this inunda-

tion of spiritual

life,

like the firmament over the sea.

Certainly dogmatic theology does not treat of the interior life either of the

which

Head

or the

members

of the

it

generates the piety and the prayer

sanctifies

the soul through the truth, and the

Church

but

mystical theology which directs and sustains

Thus much

have thought

it

it.

necessary to say, in

order to anticipate the objection that the tradition of

dogma

is

a tradition of dry and lifeless formulas

and to show that while dogmatic theology

is

pro-

gressive in all the secondary operations of deduction

and

definition, it is fixed

and permanent

in all the

primary dogmas which express the eternal and immutable order of Divine truths and facts. In all the
expansion

and

advancing

analysis

of

theological

TO THE DIVINE TRADITION OF THE FAITH. 259

science

it

never parts from

its base.

It reposes

im-

mutably upon the foundation of divine truths and

facts,

which being divine, are changeless.

To what has been

hitherto advanced, I will only

add one general conclusion.

said be

false,

Unless

all

that I have

then the accusation against the Catholic

doctrines as corruptions, and innovations, as dry, lifeless,

transient formulas, cannot by the necessity of

the case be true.

If

God had

revelation, that the custody of

so

given and

left

His

depends upon the

intellect and the will of man, wounded as both are by
it

then corruptions, changes, and innovations would

be not only inevitable, but the law of its transmissin,

But

sion.

this is contrary not only to the divine

procedure and perfections, but to the explicit terms

God has declared Himself
of the revelation itself.
to be, not only the Giver, but the

own

Guardian of His

not only the Promulgator, but the PerNow it is this

petuator of the light of Pentecost.
which is denied, when the Catholic doctrines are detruth

nounced as corrupt, and the dogma of faith as out

of date.
It is, as I said, no question of detail, but of
the whole Christian dispensation.

Either

God

the

Holy Ghost inhabits the Church for ever, and His

unction full and perfect, which ' is truth and no lie,'
that

is

the whole truth unmixed and pure,

is

with the

2G0

THE RELATION OF

Church at
with

it,

TTIE

this hour, or it is

and

if

HOLY GHOST,
riot.

He

If

ETC.

be not

that unction does not abide with

it,

may be as corrupt, as novel, as

distorted, as lifeless, as arbitrary as the perversity of
the intellect and will of man can make them. The

then

doctrines

its

line of heresies

example and

But

if

He

from Gnosticism to Protestantism are

proof.
still

abide in the Church as

its

Divine

conbeyond
are His
troversy that the doctrines of the Church
as the
abide
in
all
that
and
ages they
utterances,

Teacher and Guide, then

it

follows

all

radiance of His presence, incorrupt, incorruptible,

immutable, and primitive, as on the day when He

descended on His apostles.

And

the words of

God

and
by the prophet are fulfilled in Jesus the Head,
'
in the Church His body
Spirit that is in thee,
:

and

my

My

words that I have put in thy mouth, shall

not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of

saith
thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed,
the Lord, from henceforth and for ever

' 1
;

that

the Holy Catholic and Eoman Church, and

Vicar of the Incarnate Word on earth.
1

Spotfiswoode

&

Co.,

Isaias

lix. 21.

Printers, London

and

Westminster

is,

of

of the

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from

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